


Do it right this time

by mad_fairy



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale, Ranma 1/2
Genre: Demons, Dream World, F/M, Female Friendship, Growing Up, Time Travel, Wish Fulfillment
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-04
Updated: 2019-12-28
Packaged: 2020-02-18 15:34:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 83,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18702454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mad_fairy/pseuds/mad_fairy
Summary: Akane goes on a rampage and finds herself back in the past--before Ranma and the never-ending stream of rival fiancees sent her quiet life careening out of control.She finds herself having to decide what she really wants out of life, and working to make it happen.





	1. We're in the past?!

**Author's Note:**

> A bit of a departure from my usual Harry Potter stuff. This is a bit of a nostalgic indulgence for me. I stumbled across the Ranma 1/2 translation project again about a year ago and thought I'd try my hand at resolving the unfinished relationship tangles. Ranma and Akane and their wacky adventures were a great favorite of mine back in the day.   
> I gave Akane a bit of a power-up--I always felt a little bad for her. Her rivals in love all have long, flowing hair--hers got cut during a fight early on in the series. They're all excellent cooks, and have their own restaurants--everything she makes is toxic. She used to be one of the strongest fighters in the area--they're all world class, and blow her away without even trying. She sort of got swept up in all the craziness, and sort of lost sight of herself along the way.   
> I disliked how some of the seasons of the anime turned her into a two-dimensional shrieking harridan. I figured I'd give her a chance to come into her own, resolve some of her ongoing personal conflicts, and take her place among the other fighters as an equal by finding her own path to walk.   
> Join me for a little romp through Nerima along the rocky path to true love.

_"Ugh. What…?"_ Mousse of the Amazons groaned and clutched weakly at his head.

He sat up slowly and groped for his glasses. He froze when the blurs around him resolved into his old room in the village.

_"How… What am I doing here? When I went to bed last night I'm certain I was in Japan…"_

He rose slowly from his bed and looked around. It was just as he remembered it. He spotted a calendar on the wall and frowned at it.

" _That can't be right…"_

He stepped outside and saw the arena around the challenge log being set up. In the distance, he spotted Shampoo. She looked younger, less careworn and more confident.

_"_ Ha! Hairgel, you're a funny girl. I won the championship the last two years and I'll win it again this year. Just you wait!" she said, bragging a bit.

_"The last two years?"_ Mousse thought in astonishment. " _Does that mean the calendar is right? Have I somehow traveled back in time? Shampoo never managed to win the third year in a row, because Ranma showed up and…"_

A thrilling sense of destiny and purpose filled Mousse's soul.

_"That means Ranma must be in or near Jusenkyo right now! If I can stop him from ever entering the village, I can keep him away from my darling Shampoo! If I can just keep him from ever beating her, she will at last be mine!"_

Preparations around the village came to a halt as Mousse threw back his head and began laughing manically. This went on for some time and then he suddenly ran off, leaping over the village wall without apparent effort and took off into the distance. Elder Cologne and her great-granddaughter exchanged a bewildered glance.

"Stupid Mousse finally went completely crazy, huh?" Shampoo said with some surprise.

"So it would seem" Cologne agreed. _"Stupid boy. What does he think he's doing running away like that?"_

She was torn. On the one hand, such out of character behavior was probably worth investigating. On the other hand, if she was running around trying to chase down the silly boy she might end up missing Shampoo's victory. _"Ah well. I'm sure he'll be fine._ Don't forget to get warmed up, Shampoo."

"I will be three time champion today, great-grandmother. I know what I'm doing." She smiled smugly at the girls nearby. "No one stands a chance against me."

"Don't be overconfident, Shampoo. Everyone has been training hard to take your title from you."

"HA! Hard work only takes you so far against natural talent." Shampoo scoffed, preening. She smirked happily at all the teeth-grinding she could hear. She had this in the bag.

 

 

" _Must find Ranma, must find Ranma…. **MUST FIND RANMA!"**_ Mousse thought feverishly as he charged across the hills and plains for Jusenkyo.

He scanned the area as carefully as he could, looking for any sign of his nemesis.

_"I need to find him quickly and convince him to stay far away from the village. I don't know why this happened, but I will do everything in my power to use this gift of time to my best advantage. Someday, my dear Shampoo will finally accept that I am the only man for her."_

His heart pounded as he ran, while visions of Shampoo's endless, hopeless quest to win Ranma scrolled before his eyes.

" _What I wouldn't have given just to have my beloved smile at me. Instead, she saved all her smiles, her free time, her cooking…everything for him. And he never appreciated the gift he was given."_

Mousse's headlong flight towards the cursed springs slowed as something new occurred to him.

"I'm not cursed anymore."

This was such an extraordinary thought that it took him a moment for it to really sink in. He and the others had torn across Japan and China for any hint of a cure, and now he seemed to have been handed one without effort. Or had he?

_"At this point in time I should be curse-free…but I am of the future. Could it have possibly traveled back with me?"_

The thought was so horrifying that he immediately cast around for some cold water to test it.

_"I'm still far enough from the cursed springs that it should be safe enough…. HA! Water! Please be true, please be true…"_ he murmured desperately as he slowly inched his hand towards the small trickle of water spilling down over the rocks nearby.

He closed his eyes as he stuck his hand in and waited. After several minutes, his eyes snapped open and he looked down at his still human body with a relief so great it brought tears to his eyes.

_"I'm free. No more curse! No more duck boy! Oh, happy, happy day! This is a day of miracles! No more curse, and for the moment at least my darling Shampoo remains unwed and…"_

Mousse's happy thoughts crashed to a halt as he realized the terrible mistake he'd almost made.

_"I'm free, and here I was, charging right for the cursed springs like a madman! I'm a fool. I should go back and simply watch the road leading to the village and stop Ranma there. What do I care if the fool is cursed or not? So long as he stays away from Shampoo…"_

His new path decided, he began backtracking and looking for a good spot to lie in wait for his rival.

_"Not this time, Ranma Saotome. Shampoo is mine and I will not allow you to take her from me again."_

 

 

 

**"Where the hell am I now?"** Ryoga Hibiki growled angrily. _"Damn you, Ranma! I'll catch up to you today, I can just feel it!"_

He spotted dark hair in the distance and smiled, pulling his trusty umbrella. _"There you are! Die, Ranma!"_ he thought, as he began charging.

He lost sight of the figure in the distance and got turned around, and found himself outside a wooden palisade wall.

" **Trying to hide from me, are you, Ranma? Not this time!"**

He leapt over the wall, then tried to redirect his kick as he spotted, not his hated rival, but two pretty girls battling atop a hanging log. The girls froze for a split second and gaped at him for a moment, and then one of the two turned as though to drive him off, but her opponent took advantage of her moment's lapse to knock her flying and then turned with her weapons at the ready to face the interloper.

["Die, intruder! How dare you get in the middle of my challenge?"] the pretty purple-haired girl growled.

Ryoga twisted to avoid her strike and landed opposite her on the log.

"Hang on a second! I thought you were someone else!"

Shampoo growled and leapt forward to attack, stung at the idea that the boy was either too cowardly to face her or thought her not worth the bother. Ryoga defended himself as best he could with his umbrella, but the girl wasn't giving an inch. In fact, if he didn't know better, he'd really think she was trying to kill him! He didn't like hitting girls, but she was good and she wasn't backing down. He disarmed her first, but it just made her more angry and she charged at him with a snarl. Ryoga defended himself and tried to leap away but she stuck with him. He was running out of log and there was a crowd gathered all around. He pushed his own attack and flipped her off the log, hoping for some distance so he could convince the strange girl that it was all a misunderstanding. The girl was agile as a cat and contorted her whole body, trying to stay on the log, a look of disbelief and horror writ large across her face.

["NO! I am the champion! You will not defeat me!"] she shrieked as she reached for him, apparently to claw his eyes out by the look on her face.

"Geez, lady, would you back off?! This was all just a misunderstanding!" Ryoga growled, pushing her back again so she had no choice but to land on the ground below.

While she was halfway to the ground, Ryoga was already in motion, leaping off the log himself to get away from these crazy people. As he ran for it, he could hear the girl shrieking behind him.

["Aiyah! Husband no run away! You come back here….!" ]

"Geez. What's her problem? Now where the hell is Ranma?"

 

_"Who is… Ryoga? What is he doing here?"_ Mousse wondered as he spotted the familiar figure in the distance, charging headlong towards Jusenkyo. " _And more to the point…why is he coming from the direction of the…._ **SHAMPOO!"**

Mousse saw red and dove out of the tree he was hidden in to go charging after Ryoga.

The lost boy obviously sensed the incoming barrage, because he twisted out of the way and leapt backwards, then continued doing so as Mousse did his best to kill him.

"DIE RYOGA! HOW DARE YOU STEAL MY SHAMPOO!"

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU? I DIDN'T STEAL ANY SHAMPOO! WHAT KIND OF GUY DO YOU TAKE ME FOR?!"

As Ryoga ducked and weaved amongst the seemingly endless weapons the bath-happy Chinese boy was flinging at him, all he could think was _"I don't know how, but Ranma, this is all your fault!"_

 

 

 

Nabiki Tendo side-eyed her little sister as they made their way to school. She'd been acting strange all morning, but so far she hadn't given any hints as to what was going on with her. Earlier she'd seemed confused and upset, but as the morning wore on it gave way to a kind of blank emptiness was scarily at odds with the fiery girl's usual temperament. She'd teased, she'd guessed and she'd questioned, but she still had no more idea of what was going on in little sister's head. None of the usual tactics seemed to be working--she'd just looked at her, and…

Nabiki shivered and wondered what was going on with her. Her eyes this morning had looked like she'd just had her whole world upended, and she was lost as a result. They were nearing the gates of the school, and Nabiki's gaze hardened. Perhaps this whole morning ritual was doing more damage to her little sister than she'd realized. She'd let it go on as long as she had because, well, she'd honestly been a little jealous.

Half the boys in school were lined up like idiots to let Akane whale on them for just the merest possibility of a date with her. Akane's tears of frustration, and her building rage had been a balm to her own wounded ego.

Plus, it couldn't be denied she'd cleaned up nicely in the betting so far, though she'd had to put an end to it for everyone but Kuno. For the first few weeks people had put bets on their own favorites, and she'd cleaned up when Akane ploughed through the opposition each day without slowing. These days, everyone wanted to bet on Akane, which wouldn't do her much good at all. Only Kuno-baby still honestly thought he had a chance. The jerk.

They reached the gate and Akane slowed and looked at the rows of jocks lined up. For a moment, she really looked like she couldn't imagine what they were doing there, but then her already blank face grew icy and her eyes hardened. Nabiki could swear there was a visible haze forming around her sister's body.

Nabiki actually flinched as Akane charged into the crowd. She was pretty sure the hot wind that had just slammed across her was Akane's wake. She looked across the crowd and saw Akane standing motionless on the other side.

_"How'd she get through them so fast? Did she finally decide to stop playing their game?"_

Nabiki flinched again as the crowd of boys began to topple and groan. In moments, the whole idiotic crowd was trembling on the ground and whimpering.

_"She beat them?! When did she…?!"_ Nabiki's thoughts were in turmoil. _"Just what the heck is going on with Akane?"_

She hurried after her sister, stepping on the jocks that were in the way--on their bruises when she could manage it, and smiled at the louder groans that sounded as she passed.

_"Serves you idiots right, both for tormenting my stupid little sister, and for preferring to get your asses handed to you each morning rather than just move on to another girl and ask for a date like a normal person. Jackasses! You'd think Akane was the only girl that went to this school!"_

Nabiki backed off a bit and sighed as Kuno-baby came strutting around the tree he'd been hiding behind, smelling a rose that he then flung at her sister like a weapon. She usually caught them, for all that she then beat up Kuno-baby just like the rest. Not this time. She didn't even give him a chance to start his stupid speech. She just kicked him in the face and then snapped his bokken in half when he was flailing around and falling backwards. Without a word, she walked to where the rose he'd flung was lying on the ground, and stomped it into the ground until it was a smear on the grass. She then turned and walked away. Through the whole ordeal, she never said a word or changed expression.

_"What's happened to you, Akane?"_

 

 

Akane Tendo wasn't sure whether to be relieved or annoyed when the final bell rang, signaling the end of school. On the one hand, she'd had trouble concentrating all day. On the other hand, now that school was over, she was going to be obsessing over her weird dream.

_"Was it really a dream? It all felt so real, and there was so much detail. I'm not sure I'm creative enough to come up with such a crazy story. Chinese curses…Chinese Amazons, of all things, fiancées and martial arts battles and kidnappings…"_

Akane gathered her things, made her excuses to her friends and her sister and hurried home to change. She'd woken late this morning, and hadn't gone for her usual run. It might be just the thing to clear her head… Thirty minutes later, she was dressed in loose, comfortable clothes and headed out on her usual route.

_"Ugh. Now I remember why I usually do this first thing in the morning… too many people on the street to just cut loose."_

She spotted a low wall, about waist high that ran alongside the street up ahead, which was slightly more crowded than the part she was already on. Without really thinking about it, she increased her speed, leapt for the wall and continued her run there. When the wall ended, there was a fence, slightly higher, that finished the street and continued on around the corner. She hopped onto that, then leapt off at the corner for another wall, hopped across several large boulders, and onto another wall. The unaccustomed exercise began to tell on her.

_"All this leaping and balance work really works the muscles. I can feel the burn…and I can actually do it. It's just like in my dream… Does that mean it's real?"_

Akane gathered herself and leapt for the nearest rooftop began hopping from roof to roof, making her way back to the dojo.

_"I'm going to feel this tomorrow. If there's any chance it's real, I need to whip myself into shape over the next few weeks, or I'm going to quickly find myself irrelevant, outclassed and a regular damsel in distress in the coming months. No thank you."_

She landed on her own roof and settled down in what was a familiar spot from her dream, and stared out into the sunset.

_"Is he real? Do I want him to be?"_

She finally let herself think about the subject she'd been avoiding up till now. Her fiancé, Ranma Saotome.

_"The whole curse thing is pretty weird…and from what I remember of my dream, I spent a lot of time crying, getting into ridiculous battles…arguing. If he's real… Do I want him back?"_

Her entire time with Ranma flashed across her mind's eye, like she was watching a movie on fast-forward. Her heart thumped and a warm, safe feeling welled up inside her. She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, so she could bury her now painfully red face.

" _I do. God help me--arguments, jealousy, problems and all… I do."_

The last of the blank numbness that had been plaguing her all day burned away once she admitted it. It was then that something horrible occurred to her.

_"I still don't know how or why this happened. Chances are it's a mistake. It was probably Shampoo. I could just see that stupid bimbo sending herself back in time so she could give girl-Ranma the kiss of marriage and keep him from ever leaving her village… Stupid Amazons and their stupid always-wonky magic. You think they'd learn. I can't really think of any good reason any of the usual suspects would want to send me back in time. That means it was probably a mistake. Do any of the rest of them remember the future? If they do, will Ranma even make it here, or will he be stuck brain-washed in China? From what I remember, they don't even arrive for a few more months yet, so until then I won't know… And if they don't show up, I still won't know, really. They might have just been waylaid somewhere… I remember Ranma… but will Ranma remember me?"_

Akane had to swallow a lump in her throat at the idea that he might not. The thought left her cold.

_"What will be will be. I can't worry about that now. All I can do is make sure I'm ready for what might be coming. That means training. I can do stuff like I was doing tonight on my own… but what I really need are opponents I can test myself against and learn from… I should make another attempt at getting daddy off his duff. He just gave up on teaching and left me floundering. He wants an heir to the school, he wants the schools combined… but he hasn't done his part to make it so. I am the heir to the Tendo school of Anything Goes Martial Arts. This time around, I want that to mean something."_

As her mind ticked through everything she personally could do to get herself ready, she made herself a promise.

_"Ranma… I won't be a burden this time around, and I won't be your weakness. "_

Her mind flashed back to their first meeting, and the rocky first few weeks that the Saotomes were living with them.

_"The day we first met, I asked if you wanted to be friends. I'll try to live up to that more this time around. I really gave you a hard time… and with your curse so new, you really didn't need that, did you? We had a lot of good times…and times when we **were** friends… but there were a lot of times that I jumped to conclusions, didn't give you the benefit of the doubt… and I really didn't make the whole fiancée mess any easier on you, did I? I'll try to be better at just being your friend this time around."_

A wry, embarrassed smile crossed her face as she remembered something else she could try to work on as well.

_"And I promise… I'll taste test my cooking before trying to inflict it on you. With what I can remember from your mom and Kasumi taking me in hand… I really shouldn't be making anything toxic… but even so, I'll try to go slow, pay attention and not get too creative. I owe you at least that much. You suffered a lot from my first attempts, didn't you?"_

Akane leapt down from the roof into the yard, and stumbled back when Nabiki shrieked upon spotting her.

"What the hell, Akane? Were you just on the roof?" "Yeah. I had some stuff to think about."

"And you had to go on the roof to do that?"

"Hmmm. Yeah. I really did." Akane gave her scowling sister a sunny smile and headed for her room to get a change of clothes for her bath.

_"Huh. It's kind of fun leaving Nabiki discombobulated. I should try to do it more often."_


	2. Akane's old boyfriend?!  Battle Royale!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mysterious cross-dressing duo deepens the mystery around Akane's strange behavior.

"Quiet, class. We have a new student starting today. Why don't you introduce yourself…"

"Hello. I'm…"

"UKYO!"

" _AKANE?!_ What the _hell_ is with your _hair?!_ "

"Don't worry about my hair! What are you _doing_ here?!"

**_"Hey, wow, you two know each other?"_ **

**_"How'd you meet?"_ **

**_"Did you two used to date?"_ **

Ukyo's face contorted, as did Akane's, at the questions being shouted by the class. It was an easy enough mistake to make--Ukyo was currently in her boy guise. Her school uniform from the all-boys school she'd been at was all she really had to wear. She'd had other things on her mind than filling out her wardrobe.

"I'm Ukyo Kuonji. I'm an okonomiyaki chef and a martial artist. In fact, I plan to open a restaurant in a few weeks. I hope to see you there once I'm in business."

"Since you and Miss Tendo seem to know each other, why don't you take the empty desk next to her."

"Yes, sir."

The other students watched Akane and the new guy carefully, on the lookout for gossip.

_" **Wow. Did you see that glare? Bad breakup, do you think?"**_

**_"It must have been. The air practically crackles when their eyes meet!"_ **

**_"Geez. Kuno and the hentai squad aren't going to like this at all!"_ **

"Settle down, class. Turn to page 184. Mister Yamamura, why don't you begin?"

Class seemed to drone on and on. Both Akane and Ukyo only barely paid attention--they lived all this once before.

_"I suppose that's one benefit of time-travel. I can do other stuff and still maintain top grades without too much effort. With Ukyo being here, I guess it really is time-travel. She really didn't seem too happy that I remembered her. She's unbelievable. She showed up early to steal Ranma! Did she do this? I thoroughly thrashed her for her part in BOMBING MY HOUSE AND DOJO. Bitch. Called herself my friend too. Did she send herself back in time to try to get the drop on me before I started training? Was she planning to waylay Ranma before he got to my place to try to make sure we didn't meet? Was she planning on killing me?"_ Akane's thoughts raced in a hundred directions. As a result, she was wound tight as a wire by the time the bell rang for lunch.

The whole class was watching avidly when they both stood and turned to glare at each other.

"We have unfinished business, it seems."

"Damned right we do." Ukyo strode to the nearest window, threw it open and hopped out onto the grounds.

She wasn't expecting Akane to be right on her heels. The girl she remembered would have had to exit in the usual fashion. They marched out until they were in the middle of the grounds and turned to face each other. Though neither of them realized it, some of the students of their homeroom were racing through the school to spread the word that Akane's old boyfriend had just shown up and they were having some kind of grudge match out on the grounds.

Nabiki raced to the balcony overlooking the front doors and ground her teeth. She HATED not knowing things. Who the hell was this guy? How did Akane know him? Why were they beating the hell out of each other in the middle of the school yard? Were those…soba noodles?

**_"Do you think he's here to give her hell about letting all those boys challenge her for dates? I know I wouldn't like it if it was my girlfriend."_**

**_"Maybe he's not actually her boyfriend, just hopes to be. He might have just shown up to get in on the challenge."_ **

**_"I don't know. The kids in their class said they knew each other and this seemed to be some kind of grudge match."_ **

**_"HOW DARE THAT KNAVE ASSOCIATE SO CLOSELY WITH AKANE TENDO! I WILL NOT ALLOW IT!"_ **

"There goes Kuno-baby." Nabiki sighed. "

Think he can take him?" Aoi, one of Nabiki's associates, wondered.

"Yeah, maybe. I guess we'll see. I wish Akane had given me some forewarning so I could set up betting." Nabiki grumbled.

As the students watched, Akane and the new guy broke off their battle royale and double-teamed Kuno. They fought together like they'd done so before. Once Kuno had been wrapped in soba noodles, exploded, pounded on and punted off towards the athletic field, the two of them seemed to spend a few minutes commiserating, and then went back to whaling on each other with hardly a pause.

"You know, they might be right on the old boyfriend angle. They've got history, you can see it. They're at odds now, but there's a bond of some sort as well-- I'm on the gymnastics team. You can't just do that kind of teamwork on the fly without getting in each other's way somewhat. It takes practice and familiarity." one of the nearby girls noted.

"Actually there might be a simpler explanation. Akane's been going out lately, challenging dojos. This might just be a rematch from one of those." Nabiki mused.

"She has? Really?" another girl nearby asked curiously.

"Yeah."

"That's the first I've heard of this."

Nabiki realized the girl speaking was one of Akane's friends-- Yuki.

"She didn't advertise it. In fact, the only reason I even know is because I had her followed. She's competed in a couple of martial arts tournaments too." Nabiki explained.

"Wow. How'd she do?" a boy this time, also from Akane's class--Hiroshi or something.

Nabiki shrugged dismissively. "She didn't do half bad. I think she even won some prize money--not a lot, but still. She came home with a couple of dojo signs too. I was impressed, but she said they were weaklings that didn't take their art seriously, and that she was doing them a favor, really. I don't know what's gotten into her lately." And that was the problem, wasn't it?

"She probably just saw the light and figured if she was going to be fighting challenges every day, she might as well be getting something for her trouble." noted another of Akane's friends--Sayuri this time.

"Hmm. There could be something to that. I know daddy's at his wit's end. She's been bugging him to finish her training, but he kept putting her off. She wouldn't take no for an answer, and started randomly attacking him to force him. He's afraid to go to sleep at night for fear she going to come at him while he's asleep." Nabiki chuckled.

"That's a little farfetched." Yuki said dubiously.

"She did it once."

"Wow. She's pretty hard-core, huh?" Daisuke, another of the boys from Akane's class, laughed in delight.

"You have no idea."

"Geez. The schoolyard looks like a battlefield." Sayuri said uneasily.

"It is a battlefield. Just look at them. They're not playing around." Aoi scoffed.

"Huh. She's pretty good with that. We should try to get her on the Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics team!" the girl from earlier said gleefully as Akane snapped out a ribbon and used it to yank Ukyo's giant spatula away.

_"Where is she keeping all the clubs? Or do I want to know?"_ Nabiki wondered.

 

 

"Damn it. Stupid Akane. I should have come right here the moment I woke up instead of waiting a few weeks while I tied up loose ends. She had time to train. I could have taken her easily if I'd come right here." Ukyo muttered to herself angrily.

She hissed as the hot water hit her various scrapes and bruises, and slowly relaxed.

"At least it was a draw rather than a loss…and I might still have won if the lunch bell hadn't of ended our fight."

It had been so strange seeing her with long hair. In all the time she'd known her it had always been short. She was the tomboy, the un-cute fiancée, the girl no guy in his right mind would be interested in! She wasn't supposed to be long-haired and girly, literally beating the guys off of her each day! It had been something of a shock to find out she hadn't ended up in bizzarro world, that everything had happened this way the first time around. Turns out the only reason she had short hair was because Ryoga sent a bunch of his stupid bandanas flying through a crowd and gave her an impromptu haircut, and the only reason she wasn't still having to battle the guys off was because of her engagement to Ranma--who was a far more dangerous opponent than she was.

 

_"Was it you? Are you the reason we're like this, or was it those damned Amazons?"_

_"You must have done something as well! I certainly didn't wish you back here with me!"_

_"I didn't do anything except wake up one morning and discover that instead of being half-way through college, I have to go through high school all over again!"_

_"I only wished for myself to have a chance to do things over right!"_

_"Did it occur to you that Ranma may not remember either one of us? If he doesn't, that means that right now he's sixteen, newly cursed, been on the road for ten years with only his idiot father for company. No home, no real friends. How well do you think it's going to go over if you pounce on him the moment he shows up and start talking marriage? If you recall, he spent an hour dumping water on you the first time around, because he couldn't wrap his mind around the idea that his old buddy Ucchan was actually a girl all along."_

_"Oh like you weren't planning the same thing!"_

_"No. If he doesn't remember me, the only thing I'm planning to do this time around is to try to be a better friend to him. That's what he actually wants and what he actually needs at this point in his life. If he does remember… Well. All I can say is that I hope for your sake that he doesn't. He was thrilled when we graduated high school. He's not going to be any happier than I am that he has to start from square one again."_

_"So I'll just blame it on you!"_

_"If he remembers, he'll never believe it. In case you can't remember, unlike the rest of you psychos, I never tried using magic on him, or manipulating him, paralyzing him, or brainwashing him. I was usually trying to help him get away from those that did and get him out from under whatever was done to him. More than that, I already had him. I didn't need a do-over."_

_"Listen, you smug bitch, Ranma is MY fiancé! I'm going to win this time! All I need is to get you out of the way!"_

_"For god's sake, Ukyo! This isn't a contest, and Ranma isn't a prize to be won, or a toy! If nothing else, this do-over of yours gave me a dose of perspective. Being back here, having to fight off my horde of challengers every day… I hated it, and I was so angry all the time, even months after it stopped. I hated the way it felt, like no one even saw me as a person but just as a thing to win. Being back here now, I realize everyone treated Ranma the same way those boys treated me. Even me, though to a lesser extent. What's worse is that, unlike me, everyone blamed him for the mess. I at least had the sympathy of everyone who wasn't involved. Looking back on it now, I can't say I'm proud of how I acted sometimes…but I can at least console myself that, all things considered, I behaved far better than most of you did. No. I'm going to be his friend this time, and give him the support and companionship he needs, and I'm going to protect him from people like you who don't care what he wants or what he needs, so long as you get what you want!"_

_"I don't have a choice here! I'll be clanless and without honor unless I either marry or kill Ranma for what he and his father did to me!"_

_"You and the rest of the psycho brigade destroyed his mother's house! From where I'm standing that more than balances out the price of your yattai. You and the others also destroyed MY family's dojo and part of our house! My family had nothing to do with what Genma did. You were a regular guest in our home, and I myself only ever tried to be a friend to you…and that's how you repaid me. What you should do is train up to go kick your father's ass for blaming a six year old girl for his own stupidity. What Genma did was criminal, but the rest of your friends and family didn't exactly cover themselves in glory. What kind of person just hands their child off to a wandering martial artist that he barely knows? To then turn around and make his daughter live as a man until she can either kill or marry, just because he got taken in by a con man is ludicrous. You were treated badly, and it wasn't right… but neither is how you treated me!"_

_"You were trying to steal…!"_

_"Nothing. You can't steal a person."_

_"It's not fair! You didn't even want him…"_

_"Yes I did. Between my bad experiences with boys, the constant attacks, and the pressure our families were putting on us, I couldn't really admit to it most of the time, but I did. You wiped the slate clean. It's all gone now. All the good times as well as the bad, all our adventures, all the battles we fought. It's all gone. You accuse me of trying to steal your fiancé, but you **actually** stole mine. We were friends once, Ukyo, and now and again I still miss my friend….but what you've done….I don't know if I can ever forgive you for that."_

The sob that tore out of Ukyo's throat seemed to echo around the bath house. She sunk a bit deeper in the water, glad for the steamy air that helped hide her from view from the rest of the patrons. She curled up in a ball, hid her tears and muffled the rest of her sobs against her knees.

" _Stupid, stupid, STUPID AKANE! Why did you have to remember? You could have married Ryoga and we all could have gotten our happy endings! You were my first female friend. If we hadn't of been rivals… you probably would have been my best friend. The truth is… the truth is that… I… I really miss you too. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Why did I ever buy that magic wishing jewel from that shady looking old guy with the cart?"_

 

 

"Hang on there, little sister. I want to talk to you." Nabiki announced, blocking her way to the kitchen.

"I really can't talk now, Nabiki. I meeting someone."

"Oh? New boyfriend? Or…could it perhaps be Ukyo Kuonji?"

"Ukyo? Not hardly. We've really said all there is to say right now."

"Boyfriend then?"

"No. It's nothing like that, really. Just a friend who's going to help me with a project is all." Akane answered easily.

She leaned around Nabiki so she could see into the kitchen.

"Kasumi? Could you set aside a bit of dinner for me if I'm not back in time? I'm not sure how late I'll be."

"Alright. Don't stay out too late now."

"I won't." Akane chirped before bouncing off.

"I never thought I'd miss her being angry all the time." Nabiki huffed once she vanished out the door.

"You miss her being angry? Why?!"

"She was much easier to get information out of when she was mad. This weird, cheerful, fighting-mad Akane with her secret friends and secret projects is much harder to pry anything out of."

"Hmmm. Maybe you should get a life of your own."

"Ha, ha, sis. Very funny. I happen to have a life of my own, thank you. Sadly, knowing everything there is to know about everyone else's life is what funds my lifestyle. She's cutting into my profit margin."

As Kasumi giggled at Nabiki's chagrin, their father, Soun Tendo, edged carefully into the room, peering around the corners as he went.

"Akane's out for the evening." Kasumi informed him with a smile.

"Oh, thank goodness. Finally, an evening where I can relax!"

"Um, daddy? What's that pinned to your shirt?" Nabiki pointed.

"Huh?" Soun looked down at the note pinned to his chest in astonishment. "What…how did that get there? And when?"

"What does it say?"

**"Finish my training."** Soun read. "WAAAAH! My daughter is a relentless nag!" he wept, as fountains of tears poured from both eyes.

Nabiki leapt back to avoid a soaking and rolled her eyes.

"You know…if she can do stuff like that without you noticing, maybe she should just challenge you for mastery of the school already. It seems the student already surpassed the teacher."

"WAAAAHHH! My daughters think I’m useless!"

 

 

"Here I am, sensei!" Akane said cheerfully. "I brought you some cookies I made earlier. That hidden weapons technique you showed me already came in handy. I got challenged at school today."

She grew concerned when the small ninja she'd come to meet grew teary-eyed.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm sorry, mistress! I'm just not used to such kindness and respect… Nor did I ever expect to have a student. This has been a strange week." Sasuke Sarugakure, the Kuno family ninja sniffled.

He untied the cloth around the cookies. They were a bit oddly-shaped and a few were a bit burnt around the edges. Akane winced and sighed when he just sat there staring at them.

"I know they're not exactly pretty, but I tried one, and they taste alright."

"No, mistress, it's not that. I was simply overcome at the sight of such good food that is intended solely for myself. Truly you are the heart and soul of kindness!"

"You really should consider getting another job if my cookies can bring you to tears."

Sasuke carefully re-wrapped the cookies and tucked them away out of sight, and then settled himself in front of Akane, his manner suddenly more serious than normal.

"I know you dislike my master because of the troubles you've had with him…"

"Understatement."

"But you must understand, my family has been in service to the Kuno family for many generations. I've been tasked with looking out for Tatewaki and mistress Kodachi both because they really need someone to look after them…and because, frankly, no one else in the family's forces wanted the job."

"Your loyalty does you justice."

"Thank you, mistress."

"Akane. As I'm your student now, I don't think calling me 'mistress' is really appropriate."

"Sorry, mistress. Force of habit."

"Akane. My name is Akane. So… what will you be teaching me tonight?"

"Well… Mistress Kodachi has been experimenting again. I thought common poisons and antidotes might be a good thing to cover."

"You really should consider getting another job."

Sasuke just sighed.

"Since you're here tonight, I assume Kuno wants to know something new about me."

"Actually, I'm supposed to be gathering information about the boy you fought earlier. Master Tatewaki was most dismayed at having a new boy show up to hone in on his challenge to you. I figured I could just get information from you and have our lesson at the same time."

Akane rolled her eyes. "Appearances aside, Ukyo is actually a girl, not a boy. She's not a pervert or a transvestite, she was forced to dress like that by her father. She's technically not allowed to live as a woman until she either kills the man who wronged her or marries his son to restore her honor."

"Ah. And I thought the Kunos were eccentric."

"It's a sad story, really. She was treated badly by a number of people." Akane sighed.

"Is that why you only fought her to a draw?"

"Don't be fooled. While I may have been able to beat her if I really worked at it, it wouldn't have been easy, and we both probably would have gotten badly hurt in the process. The truth is, though she likely wouldn't admit it, she was holding back as well. Though we've each said that we're enemies now, we were friends once, and it seems in spite of all the ways we've hurt each other, that bond lingers. I guess, at the end of the day, neither of us really wanted to truly hurt the other, and so neither one of us fought as hard as we could have."

"I see." Sasuke agreed as he took notes in a tiny notepad, which he made vanish into his clothing when he was done. "So…shall we get on with tonight's lesson?"

"HAI!"

 

 

"Geez, hold your horses!" Ukyo growled as she flung open the door to what would one day be her shop again. She froze upon seeing the figure on the other side.

"Ukyo-sama?"

"K-Konatsu! You remember too? Geez, what a shoddy wishing jewel!" Ukyo laughed bitterly.

She froze upon seeing the full-body flinch Konatsu made at her words and reached out towards him, only for Konatsu to step back out of her reach. He stared at her mutely for a long moment and then leapt away, tears in his eyes.

"NO! Konatsu! WAIT! I WAS JUST SURPRISED! I DIDN'T EVEN THINK ABOUT… COME BACK! LET'S TALK ABOUT THIS!" She leapt to the roof and looked around, but she saw no sign of him. She collapsed to her knees as tears began rolling down her face. As though that wasn't bad enough, the sky chose that moment to open up and she was soon soaked.

"Damn it!"

 

 

 

"Oh, geez." Akane huffed as the skies opened up. "I guess I should get going anyway. When should we meet again?"

"The next time I'm sent out on assignment or my next time off, whichever comes first." Sasuke decided.

"I know you only get four hours off a week. I don't want you to waste your free time on my training." Akane objected. "Use that time to do something fun for yourself. I insist."

"You truly are the heart and soul of kindness. I can see why master Tatewaki is so taken with you."

"Um…thanks, I guess. What is it?" Akane then asked when she noticed his attention was elsewhere.

"Hmm. Oh, I just spotted a young lady stumbling down the road. She seems to be in some distress." he pointed.

Akane peered through the rain and then gasped. "Konatsu!"

"You know her?"

"That's actually a boy who was raised as a girl. He was raised up and taught his mother's kunoichi style martial arts. I should go check on him!"

"If you'll do that, I should probably be getting back as well. Master Tatewaki is probably getting impatient for my report."

"Okay. Until next time then." Akane nodded, before hurrying to Konatsu's side.

"KONATSU! Are you okay? What's happened?"

"Akane-sama? You remember me?"

"Yes. I take it you remember too?"

"I went to see Ukyo-sama and she…" He began crying then and covered his face. "She didn't even care that her wish meant I would be trapped back with my terrible family again!"

Akane embraced him, teary-eyed herself at the sight of the young man's terrible pain.

"Oh, Konatsu. Come on. You're staying with us tonight."

"I don't want to impose."

"What are friends for? Come on."

 

Akane tugged the genius kunoichi along and shooed him off to the furo while she went and made up the guest room.

"Akane? Oh. Do we have a guest?"

"Yeah. He's a friend of mine and he's really upset. I don't think he has anyplace else to go right now."

"Oh. Poor thing. Do you need me to make more food?"

"No. I've got it covered. It's okay, sis."

Kasumi looked torn. On the one hand, she really wanted to get back to her book. On the other hand, she really shouldn't leave a guest to Akane's mercy in the kitchen. Of course, if he really was a friend of hers, she supposed he should already know better than to eat anything she made…

"Call me if you need anything."

"I will, sis. Don't worry."

While Akane busied herself making up the futon, Nabiki crept downstairs to find herself a good vantage point to hide out and spy. She was tired of not knowing what was going on.

Later, after Akane and Konatsu were both bathed, in dry clothes, and had split Akane's share of dinner that night. Akane made tea and grabbed the last of the cookies she'd made--they were still untouched, as no one in the family would touch anything she made unless they were forced to. The rain had tapered off, and the garden sparkled in the moonlight. They settled themselves on the engawa and quietly sipped their tea.

"I apologize again for imposing like this. I've no wish to be a burden."

"Don't start. Friends are never a burden."

"I do not wish to incur any debt with your family. Another mouth to feed is no small matter. Please allow me to contribute in some way to the household to repay you for you kindness."

"Well…if you insist. I could use a regular sparring partner. I've been trying to get daddy to pick up my training again, but so far he's refused me. I'm nowhere near where I should be. I've been on my own for a while now, and I've had to branch out on my own to expand and sharpen my skills."

"I would do so and gladly, Akane-sama, you needn't even ask…but that will not help in covering the expense of another mouth to feed."

"You are my friend, and could never be a burden." Akane replied fiercely. "I'm so glad you got away from your terrible family as early as you have. You deserve so much better than what you've gotten. As far as expenses, well, if we fall short on the bills, I will cover it. I have a part-time job. I already get an allowance, so I don't actually need the money. I wasn't doing it for money anyway, but for training."

"Where are you working? I don't remember you having a job before."

"It's new. I have a job as a shrine maiden. I'm receiving spiritual training while learning my duties in tending the shrine."

"I see. Good for you, Akane-sama, but still…"

Akane reached out and took his hand. "You won't get me to change my mind on this. You are welcome here, for as long as you need us." she repeated.

The poor guy had such low self-esteem, it really needed repeating.

"As far as Ukyo goes, I'll be giving her a piece of my mind at school tomorrow regardless" she spoke a bit louder to drown out his protests "but I imagine she already feels terribly enough. I'm sure the two of you will make up. For what it's worth, I really doubt she was trying to hurt you. I think she did everything on a whim and didn't think through all the consequences or what they meant. She does care about you, Konatsu, please believe that."

 

Nabiki twitched when her father and older sister settled in to either side of her, with popcorn.

"So? What have you learned?"

Nabiki sighed and began counting things off on her fingers.

"That down there is actually a guy, and the guy from earlier is actually a girl and they all know each other. The guy there has a cruel family. I don't know if him and the other one are brother and sister and their family makes them dress like that or what, but they had a fight or something and he's hiding out here for a few days. Also, Akane is a shrine maiden now, and apparently those cookies she made earlier were edible--that or girly man down there has a cast-iron stomach."

"Our little sister has such interesting friends." Kasumi noted as she ate some more popcorn.

"I still don't know who Ranma is or how he fits in to things." Nabiki sighed.

Beside her, Soun twitched. "Ranma? Ranma Saotome?"

"I don't know. One of the people close enough to the fight to hear said they were saying something about a 'Ranma', and they got the impression that he was the reason Ukyo attacked her. Who is this guy?"

"Well…I was going to tell all of you in a few days when they arrived. If it is the same young man, he and his father, who is an old-friend of mine and fellow disciple in the school of Anything Goes are coming here in a week to fulfill an agreement we made years ago before either of us had any children."

"What kind of agreement?"

"That our children would marry and unite the schools, of course!"

"You engaged us to some guy we never met!?"

"How old is this boy? Younger men irritate me." Kasumi noted.

"I’m not sure. I've never met him."

"You never met him either? What the hell, daddy!"

"Hmm. If this agreement is as old as you say… perhaps this Ukyo is an admirer of Ranma's and came to battle Akane because she learned about the agreement somehow and is hoping to scare Akane off in hopes the engagement will be broken and she can keep him for herself?" Kasumi mused.

"And that's why she went on this whole training kick. It was bad enough that she was being attacked by kids at school. If people are going to start showing up from elsewhere as well to attack her, she felt like she needed to up her game. Ukyo's a lot better than any of the idiots at school. That would explain everything. Well…everything except the guy in our living room. Where does he fit in?" Nabiki griped.

"Well… he's a boy that dresses like a girl, and Ukyo is a girl that dresses like a boy. Perhaps Konatsu is an admirer of Ukyo's who got left behind when she ran off to find and defeat Akane. He may have harbored some hope that he and she would marry someday, and now he's depressed and heartbroken?" Kasumi suggested.

"I guess. It's still weird though." Nabiki agreed grudgingly. "Wait a second… she asked him to be her sparring partner. She's been hitting the tournament circuit. Maybe she met them there, and they became friends, but then Ukyo discovered she was engaged to the boy she likes and followed her home, and Konatsu came looking for her. That would explain how they all know each other. Ah. Glad that's all cleared up. All the mysteries were really bugging me." she said with some relief.

A knock sounded at the door.

"Oh. I wonder who that is, this late?" Kasumi murmured as she rose to go answer the door.

Akane got there before any of them as she was closer. The three of them huddled off to the side, still hidden. Akane was putting off a battle aura, and none of them wanted to get in her way.

"Akane."

"Ukyo."

"Is he here?"

"Haven't you done enough already?"

"Akane, please. Let me talk to him."

"I will if he wants to talk to you, otherwise you have to wait until he's ready."

"Understood. I'll wait in the dojo."

"If you hurt him again, you'll answer to me."

"I'm not here to fight." Ukyo sighed again. "I just want to talk to Konatsu and make things right again."

Akane nodded and shut the door. Konatsu stepped out from behind the wall once Ukyo was hidden from view.

"You heard all that?"

Konatsu just nodded. "I guess I should go talk to her."

"Only if you want to. If you'd rather just go to bed and face her in the morning, I'll send her on her way."

Konatsu straightened up. "It's best not to let things fester. I doubt I would be able to sleep tonight otherwise." he admitted.

Akane looked at the picture he made. For once, rather than a fancy kimono or his kunoichi gear, he was in a simple yukata, one of Soun's that Akane had lent him for the night. He wasn't made up, and his long hair was hanging down loose over his shoulders. He still had a remarkably pretty face, but without the extras and the gape in his yukata showing only a flat, toned chest, it was for once very obvious that he was quite male. He made a striking picture; a true bishonen, one that wouldn't have been out of place in the manga Nabiki liked to read.

"Hang on a sec." Akane said after a moment's thought.

She smoothed his hair out a bit, and made a few minute adjustments to his yukata to show off a bit more chest, and then winked at him.

"Good luck." Konatsu blushed and gave her an impish smile back.

"Thank you, Akane-sama."


	3. Enter Ranma... Wait! Akane's been kidnapped?!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An unexpected trip to China.

Akane couldn't remember the exact date, but Ranma should be arriving in Nerima any day now.

 _"What am I going to do if he remembers me? For that matter, what am I going to do if he doesn't? Looking back now, I really lost a lot because of my single-minded pursuit of Ranchan"_ Ukyo thought to herself miserably.

_"The agreement still stands, my yattai is still gone…but what do I really have to show for any of it? I had to trick, bully or manipulate him into every date we ever had. He would show up for free food, but not really just to hang out or spend time with me. Of the friends I had, I've lost one and nearly lost the other because of my stupid wish. What can I do? I can't just let it go, and let Genma get away with it. He and my dad made an agreement and he threw me away. I'm without honor if I don't finish this…but looking back, I'm beginning to wonder how intact my honor is anyway. Lately I can't even depend on my dreams to give me any relief. It used to be, I could at least dream of my and Ranchan's beautiful future… but these days, when I try to, all I can really see is Ranchan eating my food and cutting into my profits, and then running off to go save Akane from a random kidnapper, coming home long enough for another free meal and running off on a training trip. When I try to picture my life with Ranma, I can see myself, my children and my restaurant…but when I try to picture my husband, he's not there."_

"Ukyo-sama? Are you alright?" Konatsu asked worriedly.

"Heh heh. Sure thing, sugar." Ukyo replied to Konatsu brightly.

Reassured, he went elsewhere in the shop they were in to look for the rest of the items on his list. Once he was out of sight, Ukyo sighed.

_"No. I'm just getting myself down over nothing. I'm the cute fiancée. I'm Ranchan's childhood friend. He loves my cooking. He loves me. He does. He has to."_

Ukyo clenched her hands around the handle of her shopping basket as her thoughts began to circle and became tinged with the all-too-familiar desperation.

" **He has to**. If he doesn't… Then everything was for nothing. I lost my pride, my friends, and years of my future for nothing. I can't let it end this way." she whispered.

Once their shopping was finished and they were on their way back to Ucchan's to finish setting up, both of them looked up when a large shadow passed overhead.

"A flying ship?" Konatsu noted with some surprise.

"W-wait a second! I remember hearing about these guys! That's Prince Kiran and the Seven Lucky Gods Martials Artists!" Ukyo exclaimed.

She leapt for the nearest rooftop and peered intently at the ship.

"Oh, crap! Oh man! Why are they here so early? This is bad…this is really bad!"

"Ukyo-sama? What's going on?"

"Akane's been kidnapped! She's on her way to China to marry prince Kiran!"

"She is? But I thought Ranma-sama…"

"Ranma! That's right. Ranma was the only one who could beat Prince Kiran… but I don't even know if he's in town yet!" Ukyo yelled, pulling at her hair in frustration.

"Pardon me."

Konatsu simply looked down at the kneeling figure, having felt him approach. Ukyo jumped and let out a small shriek.

"W-who the hell are you?"

"Sasuke Sarugakure. I'm a shinobi in the employ of the Kuno family. Did I hear you correctly? Akane Tendo has been kidnapped and taken to China?"

"Yeah. That seems to be her lot in life, poor kid. Hey! Kuno's rich, and he's obsessed with Akane! We need someone to fund a rescue operation…and well, Kuno's not worth much as a fighter, but he's still better than nothing."

"Leave it to me." Sasuke nodded, face grim.

"Oh man. If only I knew if Ranma made it to the Tendos' yet! I guess we'll have to check. We'll need him…"

"I was just by the Tendos'. Who is it you're looking for?"

"A short red-haired girl and a panda." Ukyo admitted.

"Oh. You're in luck. They arrived shortly before I left."

 

 

"He should marry Akane." Kasumi said brightly, while mentally apologizing to her absent little sister.

"You're trying to unite the schools, right? Akane's the martial artist in the family. I'm sure you'll have lots in common." Nabiki agreed with a chirp.

"Not to mention Akane always did say she hates boys. I suppose a fiancé that's half girl will be right up her alley." Kasumi noted.

Ranma tried not to sigh miserably. What the heck kind of girl were they trying to inflict on him anyway?

"RANCHAN!"

Ranma stiffened and turned to look behind him into the yard and spotted a boy in a school uniform with a large spatula strapped to his back, who then leapt down from the wall and hurried towards where all of them were seated. He was accompanied by a pretty girl in a fancy kimono, who stayed up on the wall, watching.

"GOOD! You are here! Come on! We gotta go! We need to get to China, stat!" Ukyo announced, grabbing Ranma by the pigtail and towing him along. Ukyo leapt for the wall, chucked Ranma so he landed nearby. When he caught his footing, he shrugged and began hopping across the roofs alongside him.

"Um…who are you and where are we going?"

Back at the dojo, Konatsu landed gracefully on the engawa, bowed to everyone, and scooped up Ranma's pack.

"Forgive the intrusion. We will return once we have saved Akane-sama from being kidnapped. " she told everyone before leaping away after the others. She caught up quickly, because Ranma and Ukyo were kneeling facing one another on a roof three away from the dojo.

"You're really okonomiyaki Ucchan?"

"Yes."

"And you are and have always been a girl?"

"Yes."

"And we're heading to China to rescue Akane Tendo, who has been kidnapped by a Chinese prince who wants to marry her?"

"Right."

"Huh. That's okay with me. I don't even know this girl, after all, and I'm not really ready to get married…especially to someone that pops picked out. Bleagh!"

"…" Ukyo just stared at him blankly. The idea that he wasn't going to just go haring off half-cocked to rescue Akane had honestly not even occurred to her.

"But…"

Konatsu knelt nearby and tried to add a bit of incentive.

"You wish to return to China to find a cure for your curse, do you not?"

"You know about that? Huh. Well, yeah, I'd love to, but the guide already told us the spring of drowned man dried up. There's nothing for me there right now."

"She's my friend and I need your help." Ukyo interjected quietly.

"The guys who took her are all powerful martial artists known as the Seven Lucky Gods." Konatsu added.

"Strong opponents, huh? Well then, I'm your guy! Let's go!"

"Ukyo-sama?" Konatsu urged when her mistress didn't immediately follow.

"He's not going to save Akane, or even to help out his old friend. He's going because he wants strong people to fight." she said quietly.

"Ukyo-sama…from his perspective, he hasn't seen you in ten years, since you were both six year old children, and he doesn't know Akane Tendo at all. Your wish wiped away all the rest, remember?"

"Yeah." Ukyo sighed. "Akane even warned me that he might not remember us… Since the only folks I saw from before both remembered, it was beginning to seem like the whole thing wasn't such a big deal after all… But now… I'm once more a stranger to him, aren't I?"

"So it would seem. We should go, or everyone might leave without us."

"Right."

 

 

 

Ranma watched the shore recede and then made his way inside the cabin so he'd stay dry. He'd been warned not to let the one guy see him in girl form or he'd try to molest him or something.

_"Molest me?! What kind of people do you hang out with, Ucchan?"_

_"You see, the thing is, he's obsessed with Akane, and he's rich. We need someone to fund the rescue mission, so we kind of have to put up with the jerk until then. He's not a friend of mine or anything."_

_"Ah. I see. How 'bout the chick with the annoying laugh?"_

_"That's his younger sister. She was irritated to hear that a prince searching for a bride passed by and didn't take her. She figures she can marry the prince while her brother takes Akane."_ Konatsu explained.

_"Uh huh. So…who are you then?"_

_"That's Konatsu. He's a genius kunoichi."_

_"Yeah? Cool. Wait…he?"_

_"Yes. He's a boy that was raised as a girl."_

_"Uh…you two a thing then?"_

Ukyo had grown red in the face and walloped him with the giant spatula from her back.

_"Of course not, you dummy! I'm engaged to you!"_

_"W-what? Engaged?! How can we be engaged? I'm already engaged!"_

Ukyo had stiffened and looked at him in horror.

_"Already… To who?!"_

_"Akane, right? That's why you wanted me to go rescue her. Pops and mister Tendo and her sisters told me right before you drug me off. They arranged it before we were born or something. Um…Ucchan? You alright there?"_

Ranma peered out of the cabin window to see Ukyo still sitting curled in a ball at the prow of the boat, where she'd been since the whole conversation took place. He looked back over his shoulder when the door to the cabin opened and he saw the monkey-looking little ninja guy come in and settle down nearby.

"Uh, hey. Who are you then?"

"Sasuke Sarugakure. I'm a shinobi in the employ of the Kuno family."

"So…you're along to get this Akane back for that Kuno guy?"

"Well…master Kuno certainly believes so, as does mistress Kodachi…but the truth is, I'm here to rescue Akane Tendo simply for her own sake. Never was anyone so kind and gracious to me in all my life as that precious flower! She has a pure heart and a gentle soul. In fact, master Kuno has made that poor girl's life a misery. I've tried in numerous small ways to get him to release his obsession with her, but he will not budge. Truly that sweet angel deserves better than the cad that forced her to battle fifty men a day just to get to school!"

Ranma sat down with a thud.

"Say what? Fifty guys?"

"Yes. Master Tatewaki laid down a challenge that no one could date Akane Tendo unless he defeated her in battle. She is not so easily daunted however, and she has met the challenge valiantly each day. It's been going on for weeks now with no end in sight. Her elder sister entreated master Kuno to call an end to the challenge as the constant battles were only serving to make her sister despise my master and all the boys who took part, but he will not relent. He means to have the fair maiden no matter what, and for some reason believes that she loves him, in spite of all the evidence to the contrary. Alas, I am but a simple ninja, and cannot force my master to turn from his course."

"Huh. Yeah, that sounds kinda like what Ucchan and the kunoichi guy were saying about him." Ranma nodded.

He looked around to see if any other others were paying attention to them. Kuno and Kodachi were off gazing at the ocean. Ucchan was still looking miserable and Konatsu seemed to be trying to cheer her up. He felt kinda bad about making her upset…but heck. He hadn't seen her for ten years and thought she was a guy. He didn't know about any engagement or anything. He was still trying to come to terms with the fact she was a girl, and come on! He already had a fiancée, he hardly needed another. He was only sixteen for crying out loud! He wasn't looking to get married.

He'd only just finished a ten year training journey; he'd been hoping for a chance to kick back and enjoy life for a bit. It would be nice to have a stable home. They'd never stayed anywhere for more than a couple of weeks or months in the last ten years. It was hard to stay in school, let alone make friends with always moving around like that.

There was also his curse to consider. It had only been a couple of weeks, and he was already getting used to it--not that he wanted to, but he'd turned into a cold-water magnet after falling into that stupid spring, so he'd spent far more time as a girl than he'd ever wanted to. With the spring of drowned man gone, he really had no idea of where else to look for a possible cure. He'd have to see about trying to research curses or something. He had a lot else on his mind to be worrying about marriage right now.

"So, um…this Akane… She's nice then?"

"Oh yes indeed. She's has a temper, but she's really very sweet. She's curious and intelligent and works hard at everything. She's very forgiving and a good friend as well."

"Yeah? Um…what does she look like? Is she pretty?"

"Oh yes. Long black hair and big brown eyes and a smile that can light up a room."

"Cute then?"

"Oh yes, very cute."

"What kind of stuff does she like to do?"

"She has many interests. She's a martial artist--though the Tendo school of Anything goes specializes in weapons, she's been also focusing on her unarmed combat skills lately to get them up to snuff. She likes video games, tennis, ice skating, reading. She's been studying the ninja arts with me and she's been working as a shrine maiden and receiving spiritual training. I believe your mother has been helping her with her cooking and has been attempting to teach her nuido, the art of embroidery and sumi-e…"

"That's ink painting, right?"

"Indeed. She's been trying, but she has admitted she's had trouble with both as she has difficulty keeping her pace slow and steady. She has a fiery personality, and stillness and careful, steady work are trying for her. I've been trying to teach her to hide her presence, but as the same stillness required for such arts is needed to do so, she has yet to succeed, though she easily picked up many of the other things I taught her."

Sasuke eyed him. "Not that I mind discussing Miss Tendo, but I must ask--why all the questions? What is Miss Tendo to you?"

"She's my fiancée….but wait…did you say my _mom_ was…"

"FIEND! YOU DARE TO CLAIM THE FAIR AKANE TENDO AS YOUR OWN? I WILL NOT ALLOW IT!" Kuno suddenly bellowed, as he drew his bokken.

Sasuke sighed and made himself scarce as Kuno began attacking Ranma, in spite of the narrow quarters.

"WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING, YOU IDIOT! WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN! ARE YOU TRYING TO DROWN US ALL?"

"OOOOOHOHOHOHO! BROTHER DEAR, YOU ARE AN IDIOT AS ALWAYS!"

"CLAIM HER? WHAT DOES HE MEAN YOU CLAIMED HER, RANCHAN? I'M YOUR FIANCEE!"

"Could everyone please calm down? At this rate you're all going to destroy the ship!"

 

 

 

"RYOGA HIBIKI! PREPARE TO DIE!"

"Again? How does this guy keep finding me? I don't even know where I am, but he's been on me since that terrible, terrible day when life as I knew it came to an end… and.. **ARRRGGGHHH! Damn it, you relentless bastard, that hurt!"**

 **"It was supposed to, you wandering fool!** I will not allow you to leave China alive! I'll not make the same mistake again and allow a rival for Shampoo's heart to live!"

"I keep telling you I don't know what you're talking about! I didn't steal your shampoo or your girlfriend!"

"Shampoo is my girlfriend! Or she will be once you are dead!"

"RAAAAAA!"

"GRRRRRR"

"ARRRRGGGHHH!"

"YAAAAAAHHHH! Damn you, Ranma Saotome! Do you see the misery you've caused me? Wandering lost and alone for ages…cursed and downtrodden, and now hounded by insane Chinese people! Where will it end!"

 **"GAAAAHHHH!"** Ryoga and Mousse cried out in unison as they were both knocked to the ground courtesy of Ranma Saotome making a sudden entrance and landing on their heads while they were distracted.

As Ryoga tried to pry his face out of the dirt, he realized someone was actually still perched on his head.

"YO! Someone call me?"

Mousse pulled his own face out of the dirt with a groan, knocked his glasses over his eyes and peered at the smugly grinning figure perched above them.

"Saotome." he said with disgust.

"RANMA? Is that you, you bastard? I'll kill you!"

Ranma leaped off Ryoga's head and readied himself for a battle, only to frown in disappointment when Ukyo slammed Ryoga back into the ground with her giant spatula.

"Not so fast, pig boy. We're on a rescue mission! And geez, Ranchan! We're supposed to be looking for transport into the mountains! Talk about a short attention span!"

"This guy with the stupid face was trash-talking me! I don't let stuff like that go unanswered!"

"Settle it later! Rescue first! Hey, Mousse! You're a local--- we need a lift into the mountains. We need to get to Nekonron."

"Prince Kiran? What did he do?"

"Kidnapped Akane."

"He did? But… I see. That seems to be the poor girl's lot in life. Strange that he would do this now though… This is perhaps the workings of _'chaos'_ "

"Chaos? Wait…you mean like with the butterflies and stuff? Because of…stuff that happened differently? But… Oh, never mind! We can talk philosophy later. Right now we need a lift to Nekonron!"

" Very well. I shall assist you. Akane Tendo, while not precisely a friend, is not my enemy either. In point of fact, I'm quite fond of her. It would not do to leave her trapped with those pickle-eating freaks for too long."

Ukyo twitched when Ranma suddenly popped up between them.

"So…Ucchan, you know this guy, huh?"

"Well of course I do! He's… um…well, he's…."

"Her pen pal."

"RIGHT! My pen pal. Notice how good his Japanese is. I was a great help."

"Huh. Small world."

"Damn! We all got distracted again. We need a lift!"

"I, Tatewaki Kuno, Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, have secured our transport. Fear not, Akane Tendo, your beloved comes swiftly to your aid!"

Ranma scowled at him in annoyance as he strode off with his sister to climb back aboard a really battered hot air balloon that had landed among them. He was every bit as idiotic and perverted as he'd been warned. When the battling baka had put a hole in their boat, Ranma had been sprayed with cold water. Kuno had pounced on him soon after and felt him up, before declaring that he would allow him to date him. Ranma had punched the creep, then Konatsu had dumped some hot water on his head while Sasuke was patching the hole. He'd changed right in front of the irritating guy and he'd only demanded to know why the rest had brought along a 'foul sorcerer' that went around kidnapping innocent maidens and taking them away from the arms of their beloveds. He'd punched him again just for being too stupid to live.

"RANMA! I'll won't let you run away again!" Ryoga roared.

"WHO'S RUNNING AWAY?!"

"Damn it, you two! We don't have time for this!" Ukyo snapped.

 _"Here. Please put them on."_ Konatsu said cheerfully, popping up in front of him and offering Ranma a pair of glasses.

"Ryoga-sama, your fight with Ranma-sama will have to wait. He's in Nekonron, which is where we're all going. We'll take you to him." he then told Ryoga, his face innocent.

"Oh. I see. Very well then. **Ranma…I am coming for you!"**

"You're going the wrong way! Idiot." Ukyo huffed, corralling the lost boy before he could run off and chivvying him towards the balloon.

 _"Please assume another name and do not reply to Ranma until we arrive at our destination, or Ryoga-sama will likely destroy the ship and send all of us tumbling to our doom."_ Konatsu told Ranma once Ryoga was out of earshot. "Now come along. Akane-sama needs us."

"Damn. Ucchan sure has some weird friends." Ranma thought to himself as he followed the others on board.

"Who are you?" Ryoga wondered when he spotted Ranma in glasses.

"Jackie Chan" Ranma replied with a straight face.

"I see. Well met, Chan-san. Are you a martial artist? Apparently we're going on a rescue mission."

"No, I'm a delivery boy. The prince of Nekonron wants take-out."

"You don't have any food with you."

"I'm going to take their order. They don't have a phone, so I have to do it in person."

"Oh, I see. That's good service, Chan-san." Ryoga said, impressed.

"We try."

"You see?" Mousse told Ukyo in aside. "I must kill him. I will both free Shampoo and keep this idiot from bringing down our entire gene pool."

"You're not one to talk. I've seen you mistake Cologne for Shampoo."

"That's completely different."

"You know…I normally just go wherever the wind takes me." Their pilot mused. "If you need to get someplace in particular, one of you is going to have pedal."

Everyone peered over the side and saw a bike was strapped to the basket. There was a large fan-like propeller attached to the back of it. Everyone turned to look at Kuno, who glared back at everyone with suspicion. Ranma caught Konatsu's eye and tilted his head towards Kuno and waggled his eyebrows meaningfully. Konatsu's eyes suddenly seemed three times as big, and he was surrounded by flowers and sparkles.

"Oh! You look like a big, strong man! You are obviously the only one here powerful enough to get us all the way to Nekonron!" he gushed.

Kuno, who had been about to object, suddenly straightened, posed and turned his head, so the lovely maiden in the kimono would get a good look at his striking and manly profile.

"Your eyes do not deceive you, oh fair flower of maidenhood, I am indeed a strong and powerful man. How wise you are to be able to spot quality at a glance."

"Great!" Ranma chirped, lifting him overhead and chucking him into the bicycle seat. "Happy peddling!"

"Wow. You're really strong for a delivery boy." Ryoga noted.

"It's a very competitive business."

"I see."

 

 

"Oh, what a lovely garden. We didn't really get a chance to see most of this place last time…since it kind of got destroyed." Akane mused as she wandered aimlessly through the paths.

Though she was far more used to the careful minimalist nature of a Japanese garden, she found the artificially natural beauty of a well-crafted Chinese garden suited her mood at the moment. It seemed everywhere she looked there was something beautiful and aesthetically pleasing to greet her eyes. The soft chirping of colorful birds and the cheerfully babbling brook provided a soothing background, and every time the wind changed direction there seemed to be a new lovely scent on the breeze.

She was being cowardly and she knew it. Yes, she'd been flattered as well as curious to be invited to Kirin and Lychee's wedding--it hadn't taken them long at all to find each other once she'd written Kirin with a vague area to search in. She'd claimed it was an honor debt of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts--and truthfully, it was. Happosai was the one that had run off with half the scroll years ago that had led to the whole mess that eventually led to her being kidnapped.

So, yes, she'd had a perfectly valid reason to run off to China on a whim…but the truth was, she'd gotten scared or something and had run off to give herself a bit more breathing room.

Her and Ranma's first meeting had been an unmitigated disaster from beginning to end. She hadn't wanted history to repeat itself…nor had she wanted to end up fighting Ukyo again when she tried to intercept him. She knew she'd meet him anyway, even if Ukyo succeeded in intercepting him. Once the whole mess of her dowry and abandonment was explained, he would have been sympathetic to Ukyo, and mad as hell at his father. However, what Ukyo never considered is that he would have come to meet her as well anyway.

The agreement between the Saotomes and the Tendos was the first contract made, and so Ukyo's tragedy was a slight against herself, Ranma's first fiancée, and so he would have felt honor bound to show up to meet her and her sisters as planned. It was his need to try to keep some kind of tentative détente between all of the conflicting obligations that had led to much of the chaos they'd lived with for years.

She had promised she'd try to work towards a happier beginning this time around, but with Ukyo still so determined, and the possibility that Shampoo might remember as well… It didn't take a genius to realize that at the moment, everything seemed likely to go right back to square one, unless Shampoo got the drop on all of them by virtue of being in China, and used her future knowledge to keep Ranma from ever escaping the Amazon village.

As the date of the Saotomes arrival grew closer, all the waiting and wondering and worrying had all gotten to be too much and she'd fled to give herself a few extra days. Of course, once she'd done that, she found she'd only added a new level of worries-- the fear that she herself, with her own actions, had just ruined everything and destroyed any hope of a future for herself and Ranma. It hadn't really occurred to her until too late that Kasumi and Nabiki might have pawned Ranma off on Ukyo and gotten their father to cancel the whole thing on their part, thinking they were doing their absent little-sister a favor. She might very well return home and discover Ranma was already lost to her for good.

It was this chilling thought that had led to her current aimless wandering. She cocked her head and listened to the sound of music carried on the breeze, and altered her path to find it. After some more wandering, she found Monlon perched on a low stone wall in a flower-filled grotto, playing a beautiful song on her lute. She stopped just outside the grotto and listened.

"That's lovely."

"Thank you. It's always been a favorite of mine. It's the story of a love that transcended time."

"Transcended time?"

"Yes. There is an ancient story of an immortal that fell in love with a mortal woman, only to lose her to death while he continued on, unchanged. He was so distraught at her death that he implored the gods to bring her back to him and allow her to live out her life at his side. The gods were moved by his grief, but decreed that she was a mortal and doomed to live a mortal span, but comforted him with the knowledge that she could be reborn and they might meet again. It is said that he has lost her and found her countless times over the ages, doomed to start at the beginning each time."

Akane's chest ached for the fictional immortal. The whole story hit too close to home. It was bad enough to go through such a thing once…

"Does he succeed? Does she love him even when she doesn't remember him?" Akane wondered.

"It is said that she does. Even as a new woman, with no memory of the past, somewhere in her heart she remembers her lost love. It is a tale of long tragedy, interspersed with brief moments of joy-- a love that burns all the brighter because it is so fleeting."

"I'm glad."

Monlon nodded and continued playing, a smile lighting her face as she watched a tiny jewel-colored bird preen on the branch overhead, bracketed by a spray of flowers. Akane wandered off again, lost in her own thoughts, considering her own life and the sad story she'd just heard. She stopped a moment and listened. She could have sworn she'd just heard yelling…but whatever she'd thought she heard was silent now. There was only the sound of Monlon's song playing faintly in the distance. She shook her head, dismissing it…only to stiffen moments later and leap out of the way of an oncoming presence and settle in to a stance.

"SHAMPOO!"

"[Who are you? Get out of my way. I need to get up to the castle and retrieve my runaway husband.]"

"[You no touch Ranma.]"

"[Who is Ranma?]"

Akane frowned and realized Shampoo didn't remember the future that was.

"[Who you look for? Mu Tsu?]" she asked hopefully.

"[How you know Mu Tsu?]"

"AKANE! Hang on a sec, sugar!"

"[Red girl will answer me. How do you know Mu Tsu? And what is the deal with spatula boy? What's he yelling about?]"

"Ukyo?! What are you doing here?" Akane asked when Ukyo landed between them.

"We came to rescue you. Shampoo's been following Ryoga. She must have spotted us in the air and moved to intercept."

"Ryoga?! How did… Oh… That's right. He was at Jusenkyo the same time Ranma and his dad were. Did Ranma beat someone else? Please tell me there won't be….. AGH!"

Akane and Ukyo leapt apart and then turned to face Shampoo when she straightened, levering her mace out of the crater she'd made in the ground.

"[Red girl and spatula boy will not ignore me. How do you know Mu Tsu, and who is Ranma?!]"

"Oh, damn! She doesn't speak Japanese yet, does she? We need…"

"It's okay. She just wants to know how I know Mousse and who Ranma is."

"I told the others Mousse was my pen-pal…. Since when do you speak Chinese?"

"I took classes with Nabiki. I have about a year of practice."

"You've been quite the busy little bee, haven't you?"

"[I sorry, Amazon warrior. There has been a confusion. Come.]"

Akane whipped out a ground cloth, a tea set and a red umbrella from who knows where, and settled herself to start making tea for all of them.

"[We have tea, build bonds of warrior sisterhood and forget about misunderstandings.]"

Shampoo blinked a few times, shrugged and settled down. Ukyo twitched and looked between the two infuriating girls and settled down herself.

"What's going on?"

"We're building warrior sisterhood and setting aside misunderstandings."

"And she just agreed?"

"It's rude to refuse tea."

"[Why is spatula boy staying?]"

"[That is girl. She in disguise while on a quest to restore honor.]"

"[Is she a pervert?]"

"[No more than the average girl.]"

Shampoo giggled and took the tea that was offered to her.

 

 

 

 _"Man. I can't believe we went all that way and Akane wasn't even kidnapped. Ucchan really needs to get her facts straight next time, before dragging everyone to China. I guess it's good she was just a wedding guest and not the bride, since the wedding happened before we got there. I have a feeling it wouldn't have gone over too well if I'd gone back to the Tendos and said 'Hey, sorry, but I lost my brand-new fiancée before I even had a chance to meet her'. Pops would have just offered me to the next oldest, but Mr. Tendo probably would have killed me."_ Ranma mused.

They, as well as the seven lucky gods and the prince's new bride were all aboard the airship that had taken Akane to China. They were nice enough to offer all of them a ride home, even after they'd invaded their country and all. Prince Kiran had decided that as they'd been trying to rescue a friend that he would overlook their impertinence. He also seemed to think it spoke well of Akane that so many people were willing to drop whatever they were doing and run off at a moment's notice to try and rescue her.

_"So far, everyone seems to think she's great. Not that I'd really know, as I've yet to actually speak to her. Ucchan kept nattering at me, and then that stupid guy with the bokken kept trying to attack me every time I so much as glanced at her."_

He was at the moment tucked away in a dark corner so he could get some quiet time and think about things. Well, mostly his new fiancée… He couldn't seem to help himself. He'd been curious since he'd been told about her, and everyone he'd questioned had only made him more curious. When he'd finally gotten a glimpse of her at long last… She had strode into the room, dressed in a long red sleeveless cheongsam with a phoenix motif, slit high on the sides, with loose black pants underneath. He long hair was loose, cascading down her back in waves, and she had bunches of red flowers on either side of her head. Black bracers on her arms had completed her ensemble.

She was just as pretty as the monkey guy had said, all coiled grace waiting to spring free. She looked like a warrior princess from a fairy tale. It had been the strangest thing, but when their eyes had met, it was like a knot deep down inside himself had relaxed, and he'd found himself at peace for the first time since he'd fallen into the cursed waters of Jusenkyo.

Ranma cocked his head when he caught the sound of soft footsteps coming towards him. Speak of the devil.

Akane slipped past his hiding place and found her own dark corner to hide in. She hadn't noticed him yet, so he took the opportunity to study her without interference.

_"She might look the part, but she's not as well trained as she looks if she still hasn't noticed me here."_

As he was thinking this, she pulled her knees up to her chest. That's when he realized that tears were rolling down her cheeks. Ranma was about to creep over and inquire nonchalantly about what troubled her, when the girl-that-was-actually-a-boy-- what was his name, again? Konatsu! That was it. --when Konatsu passed by, obviously looking for Akane.

Ranma stayed quietly where he was to listen in.

_"I hope she's not crying because she's so miserable about having a freak for a fiancé."_

"Akane-sama? Are you alright?"

Akane smiled wanly at the kunoichi, and tried to wipe her tears away, but they kept flowing.

"I'm being stupid. I realized it was a possibility…I even told Ukyo as much when I found out about the stupid wish she made. I told her that if what she wished for was a 'do over', that there was a chance that Ranma wouldn't remember either one of us. I thought I was prepared… I held it in as long as I could until I could get away by myself. I was such an idiot. Nothing could ever really prepare you for the reality of looking into the face of your best friend…and seeing them looking back at you with the eyes of a stranger."

Akane's voice broke on the last word, and her tears flowed harder. Konatsu sighed and gathered the girl up in his arms, allowing her to sob out her misery on his shoulder.

 _"What's this about a wish? What's going on?!"_ Ranma wondered.

When Akane finally cried herself out, she sat back and wiped her face with the handkerchief Konatsu gave her.

"Thank you. I'm sorry for being such a bother."

"What was it you told me when our positions were reversed? Friends can never be a burden. If anything, I am honored that you felt able to share your sorrow with me."

Akane smiled, though it was a wan thing.

"What are you going to do now?"

"I'm going to do exactly what I told Ukyo I was going to do. We're sixteen right now. Neither of us is ready to get married. Ranma was just cursed a few weeks ago. I'm sure that's still wreaking havoc with him. At this point, he doesn't know me from a hole in the ground. I'm a stranger to him. I'm going to be his friend, be there for him when he needs me and let things develop as they may." Akane shrugged and gave a self-deprecating laugh. "What else can I do? Already that life has gotten vague. I changed a few things when it first happened--like all this, for example. The first time around I really did get kidnapped. I headed it off at the pass, helped them find each other, and got invited to the wedding this time around. Already a lot of the details from the first time around are fuzzy, and I only thought to note down a couple of things while it was still clear."

"It's the same for me." Konatsu sighed.

"See? Everything is already different. The future-that-was is gone, and any future knowledge we had is mostly useless. All any of us can really do is deal with the present-that-is, and try to see this as a second chance. Even though it wasn't that far in the future that we remembered, or came back from, or whatever… I'm not precisely the same person that met Ranma the first time around, just by virtue of that extra time and my experience, which means we'll likely get off to a better start... Although for all I know he really enjoyed all the arguing and if we get along he won't be interested." she laughed bitterly. "Who knows? I don't. I'm not even completely sure what we were to each other. I think I loved him at least a bit…sometimes. Other times… he hurt me a lot. And him… sometimes I thought he really cared about me… other times I was certain he hated me. Maybe if nothing else, this second chance will give us a chance to figure that out. He may decide to find someone else when all is said and done."

"What will you do if that should be the case?" Konatsu wondered.

"Not buy a stupid wishing jewel off a shady character with a cart, that's for sure." Akane snorted.

She grew pensive and sat lost in thought for a little while.

"I suppose, if that happens, I'll do the only thing I can do. I'll smile, and wish him well, and I'll hide my tears till he's gone. I'll mourn, and I'll heal, and I'll move on with my life eventually. If things do work out that way, I'll set him free. I know that I care about him very much regardless of any other concerns, and that means that, ultimately, I want him to be happy… even if that means he's not with me."

"I'm not sure that most people would be so selfless."

"It's not selflessness. I've had enough people treat me as a prize to be won, that I know full well that you can't keep a heart that isn't yours just because you want it. You can't make someone love you, it has to develop on its own. I guess I grew up some."

"Maybe you're not the only one."

"I was really surprised to see everyone…and not just because there was no actual need. Ukyo made that wish, showed up early to get me out of the way…and then when she actually has her chance…"

"She was too concerned with getting to you to take advantage of it."

"I still don't understand why she did it."

"Because she's your friend."

"I guess she really is. We were friends before…but usually being rival fiancées got in the way. I could never completely trust her because of it."

"Perhaps it wasn't really a second chance to win Ranma that she really wanted. Maybe, even if she didn't admit it to herself…what she really wanted was a second chance to be friends with both of you again."

"She did say she just wanted everyone to have their happy ending. I don't know why it worked out the way it did. You'd think if she just wanted a chance for that, I wouldn't remember. I don't really understand it all. You and me, Ukyo, Mousse and Ranma's mother remember, and Shampoo, Ranma, the Kunos and Ryoga don't. Why us five and not the others? It doesn't make sense."

"I don't understand it any better than you do. Weird magic isn't my specialty." Konatsu shrugged. "Are you ready to face the world again?"

"I think so. I should probably wash my face first though." Konatsu rolled to his feet and gave Akane a hand up.

The two of them headed towards the back where the washroom was.

Ranma slipped out before either of them saw him. He crept up onto the upper deck and stared out at the ocean passing beneath the ship with unseeing eyes.

 _"Well, I got more than I bargained for, didn't I? If I hadn't of fallen into that spring, I probably would have thought they were both crazy--magic wishes and time travel? I know there's weird magic out there though, so maybe they really do remember the future…well a future, I guess. It certainly explains why two of my childhood friends, my fiancée and a couple of Chinese Amazons all know each other. Heh. And to think, all I was worried about was that she'd hate me because of the curse. What am I supposed to do with this?"_ As he brooded on everything, something else he'd overheard came to the forefront.

" _Wait…she said my mom remembered. That means she already knows about the curse, and I can talk to her about this weird future and Ucchan's wish and all."_

Now that he had a plan of action, he relaxed and let go his worries and decided to just enjoy the ride.


	4. The battling Miko

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back from China, the gang settles back in to Nerima.

"Thanks for everything! Have a good life together!" Akane waved to the seven lucky gods and Lychee.

"Man, what a drag." Ranma commented as the ship flew off again. "All that way and I didn't get to really fight. Not even Ryoga. Where do you think he's at now?"

"Somewhere in China cursing your name, most likely." Ukyo tittered.

"How'd he manage to get lost between the air balloon and the ground anyway? One minute he was there, next he wasn't. I swear…that guy." Ranma grumbled.

"He'll be along. He'll probably show up in a few weeks wanting to take your head off." Ukyo scoffed.

"Geez. Do any of you have any idea what he's so mad about?"

"You were supposed to have a man-to-man fight. He showed up on the fourth day and found out you went to China. He followed you as best he could and wandered into the Amazon village and defeated Shampoo, and so by their laws they're now engaged. Mousse is in love with Shampoo and so has been chasing him trying to kill him and they both ended up cursed while battling each other. Shampoo has been chasing him to give him the kiss of marriage. He blames you for all of it." Akane explained.

"How is that fair?!"

"It's Ryoga. I'm not sure fair really figures into it." Ukyo scoffed.

"You helped him get to and from school regularly, and even though you kept defeating him and teasing him about it and he resented you for that…I think you were also the only stability he knew for a long time and he wanted that back, even though he couldn't really admit to himself that you were his best friend as well as his arch-rival, and all the being lost and wandering and everything else just sort of piled up until he's just a big ball of rage and frustration and angst. He knows deep down that you're a safe outlet for all of it, and that you'll be his friend still once he gets it all out of his system." Akane offered.

"Akane Tendo, you should separate yourself from the boorish louts with which you have surrounded yourself and come to my arms and date with me!" Kuno got a foot to the face when he tried to glomp on to Akane.

"Kuno-sempai, Kuno-san, Sasuke, thank you all for coming to rescue me, I really do appreciate it. The fact that no rescue was needed does not in any way lessen your kindness. I am very grateful." Akane offered with a bow. "I really should be getting home now. I'm sure my family is worried about me. Thank you again." She sped off before Kuno could try to glomp onto her again.

"Yeah, see ya around." Ukyo, Ranma, and Konatsu caught up with Akane a short distance from the high school where they'd all been dropped off.

"Okay there, sugar?"

"Just Kuno induced rage. I'm used to it."

The four of them wandered until they got to Ucchan's.

"This is us. I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow, Ranchan." Ukyo said cheerfully.

"School?!"

"Yes, school. You're going to be staying awhile. You'll be attending Furinkan High with Ukyo and I."Akane nodded.

"Oh man. I haven't been stuck in school for ages."

"Which means you probably have a lot to catch up on. Be sure to let me know if you need help with anything! We can study together!" Ukyo offered.

"Uh, yeah, sure thing, Ucchan."

"See you tomorrow then." Akane offered. She started to turn away and then turned back and hugged Ukyo firmly. "Thank you. I know we've been at odds lately, but it really meant a lot to know you had my back when it really counted."

Ukyo stiffened in surprise at first and then hugged her back just as hard.

"Any time, sugar. I know you'd do the same for me."

The girls separated and smiled at each other. Akane bounded on to the nearest roof.

"Hey! Wait up! I don't remember how to get back to your house!" Ranma called with mock outrage as he bounded after her.

The two of them bounded along until they were on the roof of the house next door to the Tendo dojo.

Akane halted and internally steeled herself to wade back into the chaos that was her family. _"For all I know they have a wedding all set up and are just waiting for us to arrive to knock us out and get us dressed. Please, please let them not be that stupid._ "

"Problem?"

"I was just wondering what sort of scene is waiting for us. Ukyo and Konatsu told my family I was kidnapped and then you disappeared for two weeks right after with them… Listen… I have a feeling our dads are going to try to get us married off immediately."

When Ranma blanched Akane gave him a grim smile in return.

"I know, right? If we want to keep our lives our own we're going to need to go on the offensive. I have some arguments ready that I think may be enough to keep ourselves free of such adult responsibilities for a few years at least, but for it to work we need to present a united front. Can you do that?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess. No offense or nothing, but I'm really not ready to get married."

"Neither am I. If nothing else I'd like time to be a normal teen for a bit and to get to know each other first. I think if I make it clear that as far as we're concerned the engagement is a done deal and we're not fighting it, and then lay out a couple of good reasons why they need to back off and give us a few years it should take some of the pressure off."

"Can't hurt to try it." Ranma shrugged.

"Alright. Sit beside me, look like a dutiful, respectful son and I'll be dutiful daughter. Stay close and back me up. If me talking doesn't work, feel free to bop their heads. That'll be plan B."

"Why do I have to be dutiful and respectful and you get to just be dutiful?"

"Because I'm going to be doing the talking and I may have to yell at them both."

"Ah. Alright. Let's do this thing."

"Teamwork?" Akane asked, holding out her fist.

Ranma smirked, bumped fists with her and nodded. "Teamwork."

She hopped down towards the front door, Ranma landing a second behind her. Akane hesitated and realized this was the last moment alone she and Ranma would likely have for the foreseeable future. She had wanted to make a better beginning… She put a hand on his arm to stop him from going in, then stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. She could feel her whole face go red as she did so. She ducked her head to hide from his gaze.

"I just realized I hadn't thanked you for coming to rescue me." she explained, before turning for the door.

Ranma stared after her and hesitantly raised a hand to his cheek. It had been nothing more than an innocent peck on the cheek, but he'd felt it down to his toes.

"Coming, Ranma?"

"Yeah, yeah, hold your horses. Geez you're bossy."

Akane stiffened and turned back to look at him over her shoulder, eyes blazing.

**"What did you say?"**

" _…maybe he enjoyed all the arguing…"_ Akane's words to Konatsu drifted across his mind, and he was both surprised and disturbed to realize that, if in that other life Akane had always looked like she did right now…chances were he had. But still, no need to ruin a good thing.

"What? I said I'm coming." he shot back, sounding cocky.

She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously before turning away with a 'hmpf!'.

Once she'd turned away, Ranma let out a quiet, shaky breath and wiped his sweaty palms on his pants before following her.

"Damn… I only just met this girl and all I can think about is how to get her to kiss me again. I might be in over my head."

 

"We're home!"

"Welcome back. Did you have fun with your friends in China?" Kasumi asked brightly.

"I suppose. The wedding was nice, and prince Kiran was nice enough not to hold a grudge towards everyone who invaded his country."

"What a caring fiancé you have, Akane. Ran off to China to rescue you on a moment's notice… of course, you did give him the big hero's welcome." Nabiki said slyly, grinning when both their faces went red.

"You've a lot to learn about men though, little sister. When he told you to 'hold your horses*" he was trying to get you to kiss him again." Kasumi interjected.

The two kids faces went incandescent, though Kasumi just sat there with a placid smile on her face and acted like she didn't notice. "More tea, Nabiki?"

Nabiki pushed her cup over for a refill, and made a very slight nod towards her elder sister, acknowledging her win.

Their fathers ignored the little game of one-upmanship; they were too busy waving fans and dancing around arm in arm.

"At last the schools will be united, Tendo-kun!"

"You took the words right out of my mouth, Saotome-kun!"

"We'll have the wedding next week!"

Both men stopped dancing and froze like frightened rabbits when a giant hammer suddenly slammed into the table. Ranma did as well, and warily eyed the girl sitting next to him, who was emitting a deep red battle aura, while smiling placidly much like her eldest sister.

"Don't you think you're getting ahead of yourselves? Not only have Ranma and I just met, but we are also still in school. I am not getting married or having children while I'm still in high school, it's out of the question. Now sit down and stop acting so silly."

Soun and Genma crept down into their seats on the other side of the table and hunkered in place like scolded children.

"Thank you." Akane said with mock serenity.

Ranma eyed her in interest when the giant hammer disappeared. Where had she put it?

"Our age is not the only issue at hand. You say the purpose of our marriage is to combine the schools of Anything Goes, correct?" she continued.

The two men nodded.

"That's going to be a little difficult considering that you, daddy, haven't finished my training…"

"Ranma can…" "Teach me Saotome School, not Tendo. It's not much of a combination if only one school is represented, is it?"

"Well then I…" Soun whimpered when the hammer came down again.

"Did I say you could speak yet?" she asked, still seemingly serene. The hammer vanished once more. "There is also the fact that, if you had gotten us married off next week and signed over the dojo to us, we likely would have lost it soon after, unless we wiped out the college funds Nabiki has been painstakingly putting together for the three of us. There's a fifty percent inheritance tax that would come due soon after on the assessed value of the property. We don't have that kind of money just lying around. There's also the small matter of me being the youngest. Isn't it customary for the eldest daughter to marry first? I'm still in school and frankly, am in no way ready to take over running a household. Kasumi is the domestic goddess in this family, not me. If you're both so eager for a wedding, you should be turning your attentions to Kasumi and Nabiki… after all, I want my _beloved_ elder sisters to know the same _maidenly joy_ I do." she added

She beamed a sunny smile to her sisters while her eyes glinted like knives.  They in turn looked back at her with rather stiff smiles on their faces.

"Now, there will be no more talk of us getting married until we're at least out of high school. Understood?" Akane concluded, still seemingly serene.

"Or we could just engage Ranma to Kasumi right now and…" Genma twitched when Akane turned and looked at him.

"Don't be _silly_ , uncle. Kasumi doesn't want a younger man. Three years wouldn't be much of a gap if they were both ten years older, though at our current ages it really is."

She was still wearing a placid smile, but he'd seen that same crazy look in his wife's eyes before and knew it meant trouble. Oh well, he'd just throw the boy in.

"Son! Are you just going to sit there while your fiancée throws her weight around?!" Genma demanded while Soun started crying.

"Yep. Pretty much." Ranma nodded, a cheerful smile on his face.

"I've failed to teach my only son how to be a man!" Genma shouted, while puffed up with manly pride.

"How can you teach him to be something you're not?" Nabiki wondered. Genma deflated.

"Oh, my. I just noticed the time. Akane, dear, don't you have work tonight?" Kasumi interjected.

"Oh no! I forgot to tell them I was running off to China!"

"I took care of it. You should run along now though. You don't want to be late."

Akane checked the time, squawked, did something none of them saw and was suddenly standing there in a red and white shrine maiden costume.

"I'll be back later!" she called as she zipped out into the garden and over the wall. Nabiki sat there blinking in shock for a few minutes after Akane made her abrupt exit.

"Was she wearing that get up under her other clothes, or did she strip naked and get dressed so fast we couldn't see it? She should save the strip teases for Ranma when they're alone, rather than doing it in the middle of the family room."Nabiki added slyly.

Ranma's eyes glazed over.

"Oh my. Nabiki, I think you broke him."Kasumi exclaimed, voice mild.

Ranma threw off his momentary fugue and found the rest of the household all smirking at him. He did the only thing he could when faced with such. He performed the Saotome secret technique… and ran away.

"Hang on! I'll walk you to work!"

Nabiki blinked again and ran her hand through the afterimage Ranma left behind.

 

 

After leaving Akane at the shrine she worked at, Ranma set off to learn the lay of the land. He was hoping to be here for a while, so it would certainly be helpful to know his way around. He wandered through the residential areas, and found himself somewhat impressed that his old pops got a family like the Tendos to agree to a marriage between them. Most of the houses in the area were much smaller and had far less land than the Tendos did. From what Akane was saying earlier they weren't rich, but they were pretty well off all things considered.

There were a wide variety of shops and restaurants, an ice skating rink, video arcade, tea houses and movie theatres, shrines and dojos, Noh, Bunraku and Kabuki--there seemed to be something for everyone.

_"I could probably be happy here."_ he decided as he munched on the free food he'd gotten from some of the street vendors. _"I'm still not happy about this stupid curse, but I have to admit being a cute girl sure comes in handy when I'm hungry."_

He licked his fingers as he finished the last of his treats and turned to cut through the park on his way back to the Tendos.

_"Hopefully dinner will be on when I get back. I'm still hungry."_

He tensed as he heard screams in the distance and saw people fleeing towards him. He hopped up into a nearby tree, both to avoid the crowd and to get a view of what lay ahead.

_"Guh. What the heck is that thing?"_

**"ONI! Flee from the terrible oni!"** a passing old lady sobbed.

_"Well, I guess that answers that. A martial artist's duty is never done. I have been spoiling for a good fight."_ he thought with glee.

The oni, who looked to be about eight foot tall, heavily muscled, with horns, tusks and claws, as well as a heavy spiked club, looked like a tough opponent. He hopped down from the tree and began speeding towards where he'd spotted the thing.

There was a flare of light up ahead and a sizzling sound that he felt more than heard. He reached a large clear area in the center of the park and saw several shrine maidens were already there, along with a priest. There were four shrine maidens who were each maintaining a barrier to keep the oni from fleeing elsewhere into the park, and the priest was chanting and was, he assumed, trying to banish it. There was one last shrine maiden who was inside the barrier with the oni, fighting it.

She was holding her own, and even seemed to have scored a few hits against it, but he could tell she was already tiring out, and quicker than the oni was. As he watched, the girl's naginata got knocked from her hand and went flying, only to wedge itself blade down in the grass some distance away. The faint glow the weapon had while in her hands winked out.

The girl managed to bounce off one of the oni's fists, flip in mid-air and land some distance away, sliding back almost to the limit of the barrier before she caught herself. She panted a moment, seemed to draw on a reserve of strength and pulled a couple of fans from within her sleeves, which she whipped through the air. A faint, glowing crescent flew from each fan and impacted the oni's chest, scoring wounds, but they were too small against the oni's bulk to do much damage.

The girl began ducking and weaving around the oni's charge, flinging more blasts at it whenever she could manage. Ranma had seen quite enough.

**"AKANE!"** he yelled, before hopping into a tree and using the branch to launch him high enough to leap over the barrier.

**"RANMA!"**

**"Hang on!"**

He managed a solid kick to the back of the oni's skull, launched himself upward and got another solid kick into its face, then flipped, and pushed off the gigantic clawed hand that made a grab for him. Akane took the opportunity to rain a barrage of blows on it while it was distracted with Ranma, which gave him time to get clear and launch another attack. By taking turns wearing it down, the thing began to visibly weaken.

The priest's chant concluded. Akane grabbed Ranma around the waist and launched them both back away from the oni. A trio of glowing ofuda came sailing from the priest's hands and hit the oni, which let out a scream, before vanishing with a bright flash. One by one the barriers winked out, and then the girls all cheered.

**"WOO HOO! WE DID IT! YAH!"** "

So…do this kind of thing a lot?" Ranma asked curiously.

"First time. Usually we just give tours of the shrine and sell souvenirs." Akane replied. She started giggling then at the absurdity of it all.

"They still hiring?"

"I'm sure you'd make a lovely shrine maiden."

"I could study with the priest, ya know." Ranma grumbled. Akane just giggled some more.

"Thanks for your help."

"Any time."

 

 

"Man, we've gotta battle demons more often!"

"I can't believe the nearby shopkeepers gave us all this stuff."

"I swear! Girls have it made. They have all the luck!"

"I think you have all the luck. I'm a girl all the time, but I don't usually get laden down with sweets, flowers and stuffed animals. It's all hentai hordes and daily battles just so I can get to school on time." Akane disagreed.

"It's a shame there so much of it. I'd like to save some of it to dole out for a bit, but as soon as pops gets a load of all this crap he's gonna either eat it, steal it or sell it."

"We can keep everything in my room or in the dojo, or even the shed…though maybe not the shed. All the gardening tools and everything are in there. Though…the sweets we should probably just hide in the kitchen. I don't want my room overrun with ants. We can plant the flowers in the garden."

"You can do that. Gardening isn't manly."

"Says who?"

"Pops."

"He has a skewed idea of what manly is then. I think it's kind of neutral myself. Personally I think it's more manly to do things you like and be secure enough in your masculinity to not worry how it might be perceived. I've had to run against that myself to a lesser extent from the other side. I've been told all my life to change most everything about myself in order to be a real girl. I guess one day I looked at myself and my sisters and realized that while we have our similarities, we're all really different as well. We're all still real girls in spite of our differences, and so maybe there's more than one way to be a girl. That realization helped me to accept finally that I'm a real girl whether I can break bricks with my fists or not. At least that's what I eventually decided. It used to bother me a lot. Still does once in a while, if I'm honest."

"I think you're fine the way you are." Ranma commented quietly.

"Thanks."

"I get what you're saying though. Like I said, I got a lot of that crap from pops. Sometimes it seemed anything that was fun or relaxing or just different wasn't considered manly enough to bother with."

"I wonder what he's using as his definition? There are many codes of manliness that include the arts, philosophy, education, politeness, good character as well as martial prowess. In fact the details of the definition vary greatly depending on the time period and location. I suppose in the end all any man or woman can do is try to be true to themselves and develop their strengths and virtues as best they can."

"Huh. There might be something to that." Ranma said thoughtfully.

He was lost in thought for a while before he spoke again.

"Hey, uh, Akane?"

"Hmmm?"

"That monkey guy mentioned you know my mom…"

"Yes, I do."

"Uh, where is she?"

"She's coming by tomorrow to see you. I called her from the shrine earlier to let her know we were back."

"Really?!"

"Ranma…could you do me a favor and not mention it to anyone that she's coming…especially your dad?"

"Huh? Why?"

"Because he'll grab you and run for it."

"What? Why?"

Akane sighed and led them to the low wall at the side of the road they were on and settled herself cross legged on top facing Ranma, who mirrored her posture, sensing there was a long story in the offing.

"Your dad and you signed a contract that said if you weren't a man among men that you would both commit seppuku…"

**"WHAT?!!!"**

Akane grabbed both his hands before he could panic or flee and squeezed them.

"Let me finish."

"I don't remember signing anything like that!"

"You were a baby or a toddler when you did, judging by the size of the handprint you signed it with."

"Fucking pops! Does he go out of his way to ruin my life?"

"I think he's a bit of an idiot that doesn't think much beyond the moment-- but think about it, I doubt you getting cursed to turn into a girl ever figured in any of his plans. In any case, when you were a bit older, you dad convinced your mom that her womanliness was disintegrating your manliness and talked her in circles until she agreed to let the both of you leave on a ten year training journey so that you could reach your potential manliness. He basically made her feel like a selfish monster for wanting to keep and raise her own son. He told her that it was up to her to judge whether he'd succeeded in making you a man among men when your training journey was over. Your mom has been alone, and very lonely, for a very long time. She had terrible nightmares as the day of your arrival drew closer, because during your long absence she convinced herself that if she really loved you, the only way she could show it was by killing you if you'd failed to reach your goal, because that's what you wanted more than anything, and that she would shame you and tarnish your honor if she couldn't hold to her end of the bargain."

Ranma looked devastated. He eventually pulled himself together and looked at her with uncharacteristic seriousness.

"I, uh, heard you talking to that Konatsu guy earlier…you said something about a wish and a changed future and that you and him and Ukyo and the glasses guy and mom remembered but the rest of us didn't…"

"Oh. You heard that, huh? Did you, um, hear anything else?"

"There was more?" Ranma asked, hoping she bought it.

"No! Nothing else. I think we'd just been talking about the wedding or something before that."

"Is it true? Do all of you remember a different future?"

"It's gotten fuzzy enough that I couldn't really tell you too much anymore."

"Do you remember what happened with my mom the first time around?"

"I can actually tell you that since I talked it over at length with her once we both realized we remembered. You dad grabbed you and ran for it when she showed up looking for you both. Over the next few months you were forced to masquerade as my cousin Ranko and her pet panda whenever she showed up. It was really hard on you…and on her. She was real depressed and brokenhearted and you were miserable. I hated it. When she first found out about the curse, she tried to act as your second, but you ran off and then she had a breakdown, because she thought it was what you wanted of her, but you ran off and she could have killed you and… It was awful. She doesn't want to enact the contract. She wants you alive and well and as a part of her life. She loves you."

Ranma slowly relaxed and let out a shuddering breath.

"She knows about the curse and she's fine with it?"

"She was so happy just to have you back that it didn't mean anything to her. She decided only a truly manly man could be a woman, or something."

"Uh…"

"She has her quirks."

"Right." Ranma nodded and sat lost in thought for a bit. "What's she like? I don't really remember her at all."

"She's been right here with you longer than you probably realize." Akane laughed gently, smoothing some of the hair out of Ranma's eyes. "Have you ever seen your girl form in the mirror? You look just like her. She's a lot taller than both of us though. She's… Yamato Nadeshiko, basically. She's very refined and elegant and soft spoken. Gentle. Very motherly. My mom died a long time ago, when I was pretty little. Kasumi took over taking care of the house and all of us, but she's my big sister not my mom, so it's not really the same. I sought her out before I realized she remembered too because I kind of missed having her around. I was originally planning on sort of gently introducing the idea of the curse and talking her around before you showed up. It was a tremendous relief that she remembered. I was really afraid I was going to mess it up."

Ranma ducked his head shyly, even as his hands tightened around Akane's. "Um…thanks for uh, trying to look out for me."

"Any time. Come on. It's getting late. We should probably get home."

 

 

"We're home."

"Welcome back. I was beginning to worry you'd miss dinner."

"What's all this? You two go on a date when you were done work? _Like that?_ " Nabiki asked slyly, smirking at Ranma in girl form.

"Depends. Does battling an oni and getting showered with gifts from grateful townsfolk count?"

**"WHAAAT? RANMA! HOW DARE YOU ENDANGER MY LITTLE GIRL!"** Soun growled.

His aura grew to monstrous size, until it seemed a giant demon-headed Soun hovered over the two teens. Ranma gaped and flinched back. Akane trembled, and stared at the looming head in wide-eyed astonishment, then her fist clenched and her eyebrow twitched.

_"Is this why Ranma was always so easily cowed by dad? No wonder no one took me seriously before. I couldn't even see that he was regularly terrorizing Ranma right in front of me!"_

She whipped the fan out of her sleeve and gave the demon head a nice, solid swat with the closed fan, and watched in satisfaction as it deflated and left Soun sitting there looking indignant.

"Leave him alone, dad! He didn't do anything wrong. For your information _I_ was battling the oni for some time before Ranma even stumbled across us, and then he came to help me out. You could at least ask questions before you start yelling…and for that matter, _if_ he needs yelling at, _I'll do it_! I don't need you to yell at him for me!"

She gathered up all the stuff she'd only just set down, muttering all the while, and then noted that Ranma was side-eying her warily.

"Planning on keeping me on a short leash or something?" the redhead asked with a cute scowl on her face as she regathered her own bags.

"You're mixing metaphors. I'm planning to keep a firm hand on the reins." Akane replied, her voice light.

"HA, HA."

"…and possibly investing in a nice riding crop."

Ranma blanched and hurried after the other girl. The rest of them could hear them as they started up the stairs.

"You were kidding about that last part, right?"

"I'll save it for when you're naughty. You might even come to like it." they could hear Akane laugh.

" _Che!_ Like you'd ever be able to lay a hand on me!"

The sound of a hand striking flesh, followed by a squeaked yelp.

"You were saying?"

"Don't touch me _there!_ "

Down below, Nabiki was gaping like a landed fish. Genma had rivers of tears flowing silently down his face as he contemplated how far short his only son had fallen from the pinnacle of true manliness he'd aimed for. Soun was twitching and trying to decide whether to cry, or just go have a lie down and hope it was all a terrible dream. Kasumi remained mostly unruffled as she continued setting food out on the table, though there was the faintest hint of a frown on her lovely face.

"Oh my. I'm certain that's not at all proper before they're married."

"WAAAHHH! My baby girl is a dominatrix!"Soun wept.

 

 

 

"I'm sorry."

"Huh?"

"I didn't really mean anything by all that. You know that, right? You just gave me an opening and I ran with it. I was playing around."

Ranma looked at her with suspicion, but her contrite face and subdued demeanor convinced him.

"So…we weren't into any kinky stuff? Good to know."

"We weren't really into anything, truth to tell. We never really had a chance. Any time we were alone for a few hours without fighting, crazies would attack or our families would try to force us to get married. We never really had a chance to do more than fight and have wacky adventures."

"Oh. So we never uh…"

"What?" Akane asked, confused.

She started to clue in to what he was asking when she saw how red his face was getting.

"Oh! Um, no. Nothing like that." Akane agreed, her own face getting red.

She noted then that a lot of tension seemed to leave Ranma's body at her admission.

"You're relieved, huh?" she asked, her voice small.

Ranma peeked at her, and then seemed to become alarmed at whatever he saw on her face.

"It's not… I wouldn't mind…I MEAN, UH…. Damn it!" he sputtered, becoming flustered.

Akane could feel herself getting angry once the initial wash of hurt passed, and did her best to release it before she went berserk and punted him out a window. That wasn't a pattern she wanted to repeat if at all possible…at least not unless he really, really deserved it. She loved Ranma, but he really could be a bit of an asshole sometimes.

When she felt calm and clear-headed again, she addressed him.

"Just calm down and say what you mean."

Ranma's shoulders slumped and he sat there poking his index fingers together nervously, then peeked at her from under his bangs.

"You're from the future…or at least your mind is, right?"

Akane nodded.

"You know me, but I don't really know you. You said it wasn't that long in the future, but I was older, and we lived together and were engaged. It's just… I never uh… _you know._ There wasn't really time for that kind of thing while me and pops were travelling. I just don't know how to be the person you remember."

"If it makes you feel any better, I haven't done anything like that either." Akane reassured him. "Not now, not in that future."

"So we never…"

"No. Like I said, we never really had a chance. In fact, I think in all that time the furthest we ever got was kissing, and you weren't in your right mind at the time."

"What do you…?"

"You were a cat."

Ranma winced and looked embarrassed. "So…you know about the cat fist, huh? I didn't hurt you or nuthin, did I?"

"I was the one person who was always perfectly safe when you were like that. You'd run around a bit and then hop onto my lap and go to sleep."

Ranma's gaze sharpened on her, though she didn't see it as she was staring down at her hands twisting on her lap. From everything he'd heard or been told so far, he'd been left with the impression that he and Akane hadn't gotten along at all before, but that couldn't have been true, or he'd never have gone to her in that form. He only went to someone he trusted and felt safe with.

"Don't worry about being the Ranma I remember. In truth, you're really not that different. The only real difference is shared memories from that other time, and I already told you that's gotten fuzzy. The real difference is that I'm not the same girl you met the first time around. We got off to a bad start, and I was pretty much a seething ball of self-defensive rage and fury twenty-four seven."

"Why were you so angry?"

"Well, you'll see the root of a lot of it tomorrow at school. Kuno sempai…"

"Stupid bokken guy?"

"Yeah. He made an announcement in the assembly soon after I started school that he'd permit no one to date me who didn't first defeat me in combat. I started getting hounded by perverts that all thought if they could manage to knock me out I'd just belong to them or something. I was furious at all of them… but the truth I couldn't admit to myself for a long time was that the root of all that rage was that I was actually terrified. There were so many of them, most wearing protective sports gear and carrying wooden and bamboo swords, hockey sticks, baseball bats--trying to dog pile me and beat me into submission, groping me, trying to flip up my skirt, snapping my bra straps. They kept coming back day after day, and Kuno was randomly assaulting me after I fought off the bulk of them and then throughout the day and they all kept getting stronger from the daily beatings." Akane explained, her gaze distant.

"I began to wonder deep down inside if one day I was going to be a hair too slow, or just have an off day and I'd end up getting gang raped on the front lawn of the school. All that fear turned my bones to water and I had nightmares."she added quietly.  

Ranma shuddered just a bit.  It wasn't something he'd ever really considered or thought about before he'd been cursed.  He'd had more than his share of creeps eyeballing him since it had happened.  It had taken him an embarrassingly long time to clue in to what was happening.  He could defend himself, so it hadn't been too much of a worry, but more than once he'd been cornered by a big creep, and for just a moment his blood would run cold if he allowed himself to think too deeply about what the creepy look on the guy's face meant. 

"I turned it all into anger to be able to stand up and fight for myself day after day. I started holding on to it because I couldn't deal with the fear and how violated I felt because of the whole thing" Akane continued.  "All that anger just stayed in me, simmering just beneath the surface and it made me defensive and gave me a hair trigger temper. It got worse after you arrived, and I lashed out at you a lot." 

Seeing his curiousity, she explained. 

"I thought you were a girl when you arrived, and you beat me easily in a match. I couldn't even get near you. I was happy to have a new girl friend who was a fellow martial artist. I thought we could train together and maybe you'd help watch my back and… then I went to take a bath with my new friend, and discovered she was actually a boy.  Worse, she was a boy who I was now engaged to, who would be living right in my house, which up until that moment had been my safe space. I accused you of being a pervert on a regular basis, I regularly lashed out at you, often unfairly." she admitted.

"As time passed, I learned to trust you, once I got it through my head that I didn't have to fear you using your superior speed and strength against me like that. In fact, you regularly protected me. Once I really got it, deep down, that I was safe, I was able to start dealing with my anger. Between that, and all the chaos--not to mention our families spying on us and interrupting us anytime we started bonding-- our relationship, such as it was, was actually pretty slow to develop."

She fixed him with an earnest gaze.

"I don't want you to be anyone but who you are. And don't worry about me being too much older or more worldly. The truth is, all that extra time really gave me was a chance to go back to the girl I was before Kuno became obsessed with me. All that time,  I was kind of stuck in place, unable to grow up or move past things until I dealt with the root of my problem. We have a second chance here, to actually be friends this time around, to get to know each other. Don't worry about anything beyond that."

**"Akane, Ranma, your dinner is going to get cold."**

"Coming, Kasumi!"

Akane shook out the miko outfit she was still wearing and a pile of weapons and assorted items fell out.

"You were carrying all this while fighting that thing earlier? Geez."

"Yeah. I guess I'll put it away later."

She busied herself gathering up the sweets to take down to the kitchen and got her pajamas and robe together so she could take a bath once dinner was done.

"The weapons I get. What's the towel for? And what's this? Your lunch?" he wondered, picking up a thermos that had fallen out with everything else.

"Huh? Oh. Those were for you. I should empty that out and wash it."

Akane took the thermos from Ranma's hand, opened it and dumped the contents, which were now warm rather than hot, on his head and handed him the towel.

"If you had this the whole time, why didn't you give it to me earlier?" Ranma wondered as he began drying himself off.

"You were eating sweets and seemed to be enjoying yourself. I didn't want to ruin it for you." Akane shrugged. "Don't take too long. Kasumi's probably having to stand guard over our dinner so your dad doesn't eat it."

"Heh. He would too." Ranma griped, before stalking towards the door.

"If you've any dirty laundry, you should probably gather that up too and put it in the hamper. I just realized you probably haven't had much of a chance to get yourself settled, what with having to run back off to China so soon after arriving."

"Yeah, you've got a point. I'm not even sure if I've got much in the way of clean clothes left. Geez. And I have to go to school tomorrow."

"We can go out after school tomorrow and pick you up a couple of uniforms if you like, just to save wear and tear on your clothes."

"I don't really have any money."

"I can cover it and you can pay me back when you do."

"Oh. Thanks."

"I'd rather you borrow money from me than Nabiki in any case. She charges interest and then keeps finding ways to enlarge your debt beyond that, and then will sink to extortion and blackmail if you look to be getting out from under her thumb. And, before you just blow off my warning, try to keep in mind that that kind of thing is to her like martial arts is to you. It's a way of life for her."

"Huh. Scary."


	5. Hentai Hordes and Family Reunions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ranma makes an explosive debut at Furinkan High, reunites with old family members and gains new ones.

"Sis, wait up!"

"You can walk Ranma to school. He's your fiancé, after all. Don't be too long or you'll be late!" Nabiki said cheerfully before speeding off.

"Oh, that girl." Akane grumbled as she got her bag and slipped on her shoes.

Ranma came wandering by a moment later with a book bag his father had unceremoniously shoved into his arms before shooing him off.

"Where's Nabiki?" Ranma wondered as they started off towards the school.

"She ran off ahead of us. She's probably getting her lieutenants ready with new gossip to sell and deciding on your odds in the betting pool."

"She has lieutenants?"

"I told you not to take her lightly."

"What betting pool?"

"On my daily battles with hentai horde. Judging by how happy she was in the weeks after it started, I can only imagine she made a small fortune on it." Akane scoffed.

"You were battling hordes and she was making money off it? How is that fair?"

"It's Nabiki. Fair doesn't come into it."

"It just doesn't sit right with me. Didn't she care how it was affecting you?"

"She knew I was angry and annoyed by it. You're the only one I ever told all the rest to."

"Oh. Well, I hope she doesn't get too angry when I shut all this down today. She's just going to have to do without her stinking betting pool."

"What do you mean shut it down?" Akane asked, somewhat stupefied.  The only reason he'd gotten involved last time is because Kuno challenged him and he was physically incapable of turning down a challenge.  She had assumed he'd get involved the same way this time around.  To hear that he was already planning on taking over--without having ever seen her fight, left her off-balance and defensive.

"Simple. I'm going to fight those creeps today and you are going to stand back and watch."

"It's my challenge though. It's not your responsibility."

"The hell it's not. How can I call myself your fiancé, no, how can I call myself a _man_ if I leave you to deal with these creeps even a single second longer than you have to?"

Akane stopped running, so Ranma did as well, his eyes widening when he saw how furious she looked.

 _"I'm not weak, or helpless!"_ Akane growled.

 _"Who ever said you were?"_ Ranma growled back. _"I know better, don't I?"_

Ranma's show of support effectively took the wind out of her sails. He sensed the advantage and pressed it, though there was a part of his mind that wondered why a simple acknowledgment of skill left her looking so lost and off-balance.

"You've been looking after me, right? Now it's my turn to take care of you. So…just **shut up and let me protect you already!** " he shouted.

Akane stood there trembling for a moment, and he began to worry that he'd badly miscalculated.

"Dummy." she whispered stepping closer. She glared at him mutely for a moment, then dropped her head so her eyes were shaded by her long bangs. " _Shut up and let me protect you? What kind of way is that to talk to a girl?"_ Akane growled, though she leaned her head on his chest while doing so.

Ranma rolled his eyes, even as he very carefully put his arms around her, watching for signs of incipient violence all the while.

 _"I might turn into a girl sometimes, but I'll be damned if it makes them any easier to understand."_   he thought to himself with some bemusement.

She didn't make any attempt to get out of his hold, which seemed to indicate he'd called it right.

"Morning! Akane-chan, is that you? Who's your new friend?"

The two teens sprang apart, red-faced. Ranma spotted a smiling guy in glasses and a dark blue gi standing in the doorway of the clinic they'd stopped in front of. Akane caught his eye and walked over to greet the man, bowing respectfully.

"T-Tofu-sensei! Good morning!"

"It seems to be a better morning for some than for others." he teased. "So, are you going to introduce me?"

"O-of course. Tofu-sensei, this is my fiancé, Ranma Saotome. Ranma, this is our doctor, Tofu-sensei. He's taken care of me since I was little."

"Uh, hi. Nice ta meetcha."

"I had heard rumors that your family arranged a marriage. Such things can be awkward in these modern times, but it seems to be working out well for the two of you. Congratulations."

"Um, thank you, doctor."

"Uh, yeah. What she said."Ranma nodded.

Tofu just laughed when Akane began grumbling under her breath about working on his manners. They made a cute pair.

"Well, I won't keep you. Don't want to be late for school."

"Yeah, we need to get going. We might be stopping by some time in the next few days. Ranma has a condition…"

**"Akane!"**

"He's trustworthy. He's our family doctor. He should know about it."

"I'll look forward to seeing you, then."

"Thanks. Good bye, doctor."

As Furinkin High came into view in the distance, Akane spoke up.

"Look, I still don't like it, but if you're going to do this you need to know some stuff. Kuno usually hides behind a tree and waits till I've plowed through all rest before he comes out and challenges me. If he sees it's you instead of me out there, he might come out early. He's an idiot, but he's a strong idiot. The rest of them are pushovers, but he can actually be dangerous. I've seen him shatter boulders and slice up trees with just the air pressure from his strikes. You're better than he is, but that doesn't mean you should take him lightly."

"He's been doing that to you?"Ranma demanded.

"No. He never went all out on me. He really truly seems to believe his own delusion that I’m actually in love with him and that I'm just being coy or something. You'd think they'd all have gotten a clue after weeks of me screaming about how I hate them and punching them out every morning, but then I can't say I've ever understood how boys minds work." Akane huffed.

"Boys are easy, it's girls that are weird and confusing."

 _ **"Che!"**_ the disgruntled noise Akane made said what she thought of that.

"I think we've already been spending too much time together. You're starting to sound like me." Ranma laughed.

 

Their headlong rush slowed and then stopped as they reached the front gates. Ranma had been prepared, he thought, for the spectacle, but in truth nothing could have really prepared him for the sight of so many hormonal losers in one place, all hepped up with fighting spirit and licking their lips as they eyed his fiancée like she was the last drink of water in the desert… not that he could blame them too much for the last part. The poor suckers were just going to have to get used to it. She was his.

**"Ranma-kun! Come on! Akane can deal with them just fine on her own!"**

Ranma glanced up at the school and blanched. Every window and the balcony over the front doors were filled with spectators. There was Nabiki, front and center, waving at him to go through and leave Akane behind.

" _Geez. No wonder this whole mess had such a bad effect on her. Well, no more. This ends here and now._ "

 **"Like hell I will."** Ranma said confidently as he pulled his bag off his back and tossed it to Akane without looking. **"I'm Ranma Saotome. I'm the heir to the Saotome school of Anything Goes Martial Arts. I'm calling an end to this challenge. Akane is my fiancée. She is officially off the market. Anyone that wants to get to her has to come through me."**

**"WHAT? HOW DARE YOU!"**

**"YOU JERK!"**

**"GET HIM!"**

**"YOU DARE? YOU DARE CLAIM THE FIERCE AKANE TENDO FOR YOUR OWN? I WILL NOT ALLOW IT!"**

_"Geez. These guys aren't playing around, are they?"_ Ranma thought to himself, disturbed.

He leaped up into the air, so he could get closer to Kuno. He wasn't letting the only dangerous guy sneak up on him while he was dealing with the loser brigade. Akane hopped up on the gate so she could get a good view of the proceedings. She watched for a bit and then noted a small number of the boys were focused on her and not the battle taking place behind them.

 _"What are they… why those PERVERTS! They're trying to see up my skirt! I'm wearing shorts under it, but still, it's the principle of the thing!_ "

Ranma halted in mid-beat down as Akane sent a barrage of gymnastics clubs down to knock out the perverts.

"I've got this! You don't need to help me!"

"They were trying to look up my skirt!"

"WHAT? YOU JERKS! THAT'S IT! NO MORE HOLDING BACK!"

"VILE MISCREANTS! I WILL NOT ALLOW IT!"

What followed was a three minute spectacle of ultra-violence. Oddly enough, Ranma and Kuno seemed to be on the same side for a bit as they both rained hell down on the panty-seeking perverts, then once the last of them was down, they turned on one another.

Akane hopped down amidst the carnage as Kuno toppled over, unconscious. She crouched down and peered at his forehead, where Ranma had bruised him in the shape of the word 'Loser'.

"Classy."

"What can I say, I was inspired."

"Still…this can't help him much. I'm pretty sure he already has brain damage."

"Memory loss sometimes accompanies head injuries. Maybe he'll forget this whole mess and just move on with his life already."

"Hope springs eternal, but I'm not holding my breath. Come on, we should get inside unless we want bucket duty. In fact, we'd best hurry. I just remembered that you have to go to the office first, since you're a new transfer and all."

Akane could feel Ukyo's stare drilling into her head from the window of their homeroom. There was a tiny part of her that wanted to smirk at her. She resisted the impulse as it wasn't one she was particularly proud of. She could feel Nabiki's stare as well.

_"This really must be driving her crazy. She probably wonders if I've been replaced with a pod-person. I'd feel bad about it, but she took entirely too much delight in exploiting the both of us for me to really manage."_

Akane bumped Ranma playfully with her shoulder as they headed inside.

"So…you didn't do too badly. I'm pretty sure I managed a lot faster though."

Ranma bumped back, and complained with mock outrage

"Hey, I had to deal with bokken boy too…"

"Excuses, excuses."

 

 

"Well, Nabiki, looks like we cleaned up today. No one bet that your sister would actually just stand back and let some guy take over her challenge. Everyone was pretty certain she'd beat up anyone who tried." Aoi told Nabiki cheerfully.

"That's little sister for you, full of surprises, that one."

"So who is that guy anyway?"Riko, Nabiki's other lieutenant wondered.

"Her fiancé, Ranma Saotome."

"Wait, they're really engaged? He wasn't just talking shit like Kuno?"Riko said in surprise.

"Our parents arranged it. She drew the short straw."

"Doesn't seem like such a short straw from where I'm standing. Shame he's too young for my tastes. He's already pretty yummy. Give him another couple of years to grow into himself…"

Nabiki rolled her eyes at her friend when she pretended to start fanning herself.

_"Ha! If only she knew the truth about Mr. Yummy down there. She'd change her tune pretty quick once she saw him change… Of course, there was a time I'd have said the same about Akane. I really expected her to be spitting mad when she came back from China and found out she'd been engaged without knowledge or consent, to some guy none of us knew, sight unseen. I expected her to really flip out once she found out said fiancé was a sex-changing weirdo. Instead, she's seems perfectly placid and content about the whole matter. She didn't object once, except on the timing. She's perfectly comfortable with him in either form. She's protective of him--as he seems to be of her. They also allow one another liberties I have a feeling they wouldn't give to anyone else. I doubt Ranma would let just anyone speak for him like Akane has--he's too macho for that sort of thing to fly well. I'm pretty sure if anyone else had tried to step into Akane's fight, she probably would have beat the hell out of them. He's done it twice now that I know of and instead of a beat down, she looks at him like he's kami-sama descended to earth or something. I don't get it. Where did all this come from? Sure, he's attractive in both forms, but he's also awkward, short on manners and refinement, and hasn't a penny to his name. What the hell is she even thinking? She was supposed to drive off the deadbeats, not make a place of honor for deadbeat jr. and curl up at his side like a contented house cat. There's still something I'm missing. Something big. But…what could be big enough to actually explain all the weirdness?"_

 

 

"Did you find uniforms that fit okay?"

"Hmm? Yeah. I had to try out a few before I found any with a good range of motion. Turns out they make special uniforms for martial artists." Ranma said happily.

"For boys, yeah. For girls it's puffy dresses."

"Well, most girls aren't going to be getting into fights during the school day."

"You'd be surprised. Alright, granted, of the ones I know, there was myself--I just wear my puffy dress. Ukyo, who was dressed as a boy more often than not. Shampoo who wasn't in school and so therefore wasn't in uniform, and Kodachi. She tended to just rip her uniform off and go running around in her gymnastics leotard." Akane replied.

"So where's she at anyway? Is she not in the same grade as us?"

"She goes to St. Hebreke's. It's an all-girl school. Apparently Kuno wanted to protect his little sister from creeps like himself."

"So…is school always going to be like today?" Ranma wondered.

"Interrogations, high drama, random attacks from Kuno with the occasional class in between? Yeah, pretty much."

"And I thought the last school I was in was wild. There it was mostly just the feeding frenzy at lunch time that got crazy. Where are we headed to now?"

"Ucchan's."

"Is that a good idea? She seemed kinda upset about something earlier."

"She probably was. In fact, maybe you should head over by yourself."

"Okay…Why?"

"Your mom is there still most likely. She planned to talk to Ukyo about your and her engagement before coming by for dinner."

"And you're fine with me going over to see her?" Ranma asked, eyeing her curiously.

"She's your friend…and chances are she might need you." Akane sighed, before turning to look at Ranma imploringly. "You have to understand…she invested so much of herself into chasing you for so long that she can't really stop, because then it means all that time was wasted. She had a crush on you when you were both six and she asked her dad if you and her could get married. Your dad took the yattai her dad gave him, which was her dowry, and left her at the side of the road. She was supposed to go with you. Now, I don't know what kind of IDIOT father hands his six year old daughter to a wandering martial artist he barely knows, but that's what happened. She was brokenhearted, and then was mercilessly teased and tormented for years afterwards that she was such an awful bride that she got dumped the same day and mustn't be much of a girl. Her self-esteem took a real beating during that time, and it turned her tender feelings to hatred and a wish for vengeance. When she came looking for you and found out you didn't know about the engagement or that she was supposed to go with you, she decided not to seek vengeance against you. But then, you told her it was a waste of a cute girl to spend her life like that…and she took it to mean that you did in fact have feelings for her and wanted to remain engaged to her." Akane sighed again, and this time looked sad. "Today she's going to find out that she's going to achieve her goal…but not at all the way she wanted or intended to. Even if I'm right and she's not actually in love with you, just cares for you very much, having the on-going drama resolved so suddenly is going to be hard on her. Truthfully, I don't know whether you being there right after she finds out will make things better or worse. Either way, I'm pretty sure she won't want to see me right now."

"What did you _do_?" Ranma demanded.

"I didn't do anything actually. I won't tell you what happened. I think it'll be important that you be genuinely surprised. Just go to Ucchan's and say I told you your mom was there and let the rest happen."

Ranma looked at her uncertainly for a moment and shrugged. "Okay. I'll see you later, I guess."

Akane nodded and took the shopping bag with his new uniforms.

"I can take these with me. Go see your mom."

 

Akane hadn't gotten far when Konatsu dropped down beside her.

"Akane-sama…why does Saotome-dono wish to speak to Ukyo-sama about her engagement to Ranma-sama?" he asked nervously.

"She's letting her know that it's over. She's been adopted into the Saotome clan. She's now Ranma's sister."

"What?!"

"Yes. Saotome-san traveled to Kansai while we were all in China and got Ukyo's father to sign the paperwork. There was no way to honorably resolve both agreements, but Saotome-san reasoned that as the end goal of Ukyo's was to make her a Saotome, that perhaps that would be enough to allow her to let go and move on with her life. In any case, as Kuonji Ukyo no longer exists, the betrothal agreement is invalid."

Konatsu looked torn between elation and sorrow.

"This will hurt Ukyo-sama deeply. Does it make me a bad person that part of me still rejoices in her freedom?"

"Just human." Akane reassured him. "And whether she realizes it yet or not, this really was for her own good. The truth is, even if she and Ranma had gotten married, she wouldn't have been happy. He would have resented her trying to keep him tied to the restaurant, and she'd have resented the chaos and the damage it did long-term to her business. Even if they managed to work through that, and to be honest, they could have--the fact remains that it wouldn't have been the fairy tale ending that she built up in her mind all this time. She never really saw him at his brattiest, or when he was focused on the needs of his art to the exclusion of all else. A business owner has different priorities than a pure martial artist like Ranma. She wants someone to share her life and her passion for food with. She never would have gotten that with Ranma. You can't have that with someone like him. All you can really do is hold on tight, try to ride the whirlwind and enjoy the occasional moment of quiet in the eye of the storm." Akane slipped her arm through Konatsu's and they ambled along companionably for a bit.

"Konatsu? Have you been trying to get Ukyo to see you as more of a boy?" Konatsu gave a wan smile. "I thought maybe it wouldn't hurt to try, so in the evenings, after we've had our baths. I don't think it's having any kind of effect though, beyond making her uncomfortable around me. She seems happiest with me like this." he waved a hand to indicate his usual kimono-clad girlish guise.

"That may not be true." Akane mused. "So long as she considered herself obligated elsewhere, she wasn't going to allow herself to become entangled with anyone else. It may well be that she prefers you to stay in a safe little box, because she doesn't want to let herself think too much about you that way."

"Do you think so?" "It could be." Akane temporized. "It's not like she and I have ever talked about how she felt about you, really. I know she cares for you. If it's more than that, I'm the last person she'd have ever let on to." 

She studied the kunoichi curiously for a moment and then made herself ask what might be an overly personal question.

"Konatsu...are you actually comfortable dressing as a boy?"

"I suppose?  My kunoichi training covered donning different guises, and so it doesn't seem that strange...but it also doesn't seem like me?  I always believed myself to be a girl, and I was comfortable with that, though I wished my breasts would grow...though at the same time, I thought being flatchested was a boon as it meant I could fit more bombs in my shirt...  Finding out I was a boy let me understand why my body was the way it was...but it didn't really change anything? I'm still me, I haven't changed, it was mostly just other people's perceptions of me that did."

"I see.  That makes sense.  Do you think of yourself as a boy or a girl?"

"I still think of myself as a girl...but the knowledge that I'm physically male has made me wonder if I should?"

Before meeting Ranma, Akane would have found this conversation much more awkward than she did now. 

"I don't think that's really up to anyone but you.  Ranma turns physically female because of his curse, but still considers himself a boy even when in a woman's body.  I don't see any reason you can't consider yourself a girl in a boy's body."

Konatsu gave Akane a shy, thankful smile.  Akane smiled back.  That seemed to be that.

 

They finally reached the Tendo dojo.

"Feel like sparring? It should help keep our mind off things for a bit."

"Yes. I would quite welcome a distraction right now."

"I'm home."

"Welcome home, Akane-chan. Where is Ranma-kun? Didn't he come home with you?"Kasumi greeted them.

"He's at Ucchan's right now. He'll be home by dinner time." Akane assured her.

"Hello, Konatsu-chan. Will you be staying for dinner?"

"I don't want to impose, Kasumi-sama."

"Nonsense. You're quite welcome."

"You should stay, Konatsu. We'll be sparring. You'll probably be hungry after. Speaking of which…dad? Can Konatsu borrow one of your gi? I'd lend you one of mine, but you're enough taller than me that I'm not sure it would fit." she added to Konatsu.

"Oh, uh, yes, certainly." Soun nodded.

"Were you and Konatsu-chan out shopping earlier?" Kasumi wondered.

"No…Oh! I almost forgot about these. I got Ranma a couple of school uniforms. Do these need to be washed before he wears them? If they do, I should probably put them in now so they'll be dry by tomorrow."Akane realized.

"I can do that. You shouldn't neglect your guest."Kasumi assured her.

"I don't want to trouble you."

"It's no bother. Give them here and run along."

"Thanks, sis. Come on, Konatsu."

"Let me get the kimono frame out. It would be a shame to get such a lovely one crumpled."

"Thank you, Kasumi-sama. It's one of my favorites, though they're all dear to me. It used to belong to my mother. All of them, in fact. It's really all I have left to remember her by."

"Then we'll make all the more certain to see that it's properly cared for."

 

 

When Akane and Konatsu arrived in the dojo, they found Soun and Genma waiting for them.

"Dad? Uncle? What are you doing here?" "Well, daughter, you've been after me to complete your training. I realized it's been some time since I assessed your progress. Saotome-kun has never seen you in action and he's curious to see what you're capable of. We're also curious about your, uh, friend. Please proceed."

"Alright."

The two kids bowed to the dojo's shrine, to the watching masters then took their places and bowed to each other before taking their opening stances. The two men watched in silence as the kids got started, first trading blows on the ground, back and forth across the length of the dojo, slowly accelerating the speed of their exchanges. As the fight progressed, they began trading blows in mid-air and bouncing off the walls and even ceiling of the dojo to redirect their flight. Once their mid-air battle was fully in progress, weapons began to be introduced--projectiles, smoke bombs, even swords at one point.

"I see what you were saying, Tendo-kun. She doesn't seem to be accessing her ki at all."

"That was primarily why I stopped where I did in her training. I didn't think she could actually manage anything beyond the very basics, and was the only one of my three girls that showed any interest in pursuing the art. It has been a great burden to me these many years, Saotome-kun. I had all my hopes resting on your son."

"He still needs seasoning, but he'll be a worthy heir to the school. I think you may have misjudged your daughter however. She's still a girl, and so can never reach the true heights of martial prowess, but she's almost competent."

"I HEARD THAT!"

"Heh. Bit of a firebrand, your youngest. Are you sure you won't reconsider switching the betrothal to your old….URK!"

Genma flinched when a group of wickedly sharpened shuriken impacted the wall around his head, outlining him in cruelly glinting silver.

"I HEARD THAT TOO!"

"J-Just kidding!" Genma laughed nervously.

He shot a dirty look at his old friend when he heard him quietly snickering beside him.

"Look at it this way, Saotome-kun--we're sure to have strong grandchildren."

"Well, that's true, isn't it?" Genma chuckled as well.

"The boy is quite good, isn't he? I should have him spar with Ranma. I think he might be a match for his speed, if not faster. I don't want him to grow stale just sparring with me. He needs to be pushed and challenged by a variety of opponents. I was a bit worried he might grow soft while we stay here. It's good to know there will be at least one youngster in these parts that will help him keep his edge."

Soun called an end to the proceedings. The kids bowed to each other and then stretched to cool down before coming over and settling themselves down in front of the two men to receive their assessment.

"Konatsu-kun, you are very skilled. Your form and speed are good. The only things I can really see that would be of benefit to you is to keep pushing your limits, and perhaps consider incorporating another style to give you more options. A soft art like Tai Chi Chuan would probably be of benefit to you as your style depends mostly on speed and maneuverability rather than strength. The ability to redirect your opponents' own strength against them, coupled with your current fighting style will allow you to more easily outlast your opponents without unduly taxing your own strength."

Konatsu nodded, and seemed to be considering what Soun suggested.

"Akane-chan, you surprised me today. You've grown enormously since I last taught you anything. I feel I owe you an apology. I stopped teaching you when I did because I didn't think you would be able to progress any further. I was waiting to feel you access your ki so that I could move on to more advanced maneuvers, but it never seemed to happen."

"That's because I apparently have a well of spiritual power. That's what I tapped into. That's why I ended up with a job at the shrine. I went seeking training in hopes they'd be able to teach me to deal with supernatural threats. Chiyo-sensei, who is in charge of training all the miko at the shrine, tested me and told me I had spiritual powers that I'd started to tap into. She said there are a rare few that can use both ki and spiritual energies, who usually become known as sages, but for most it is one or the other."

"I see. That would explain much. I was at a loss to explain why you were able to smash piles of masonry blocks without ki. All this time I've assumed you had monstrous strength."

"She has that too." Konatsu commented cheerfully.

Akane gave her a dirty look.

"Well then. It seems I'll not be able to teach you ki manipulation, but if this Chiyo-sensei can teach you to use your spirit energy, that should suffice. I should still be able to start teaching you the advanced forms."

Akane's eyes lit with excitement.

"But first, we're going to start you back on your basics."

He held up a hand before she could mount up any objections.

"I could see a number of small flaws in your form that need to be corrected and strengthened before we move on to anything more complex. This will be of benefit to me as well as I'm afraid I've not kept up my own training as well as I should have. We'll go back to the beginning and start anew."

"For how long?" "Until I’m satisfied. We'll start tomorrow before you go to school."

"I see. Sorry, Konatsu-chan. It looks like our morning training is on hold indefinitely. I won't have time to do both and still make it to school on time."

"You two have been training together in the mornings? I haven't heard you in the dojo." Genma said with surprise.

"I run five miles every morning. Konatsu surprises me somewhere along my route and we fight a running battle through whatever terrain we happen to be in. I try to vary my route every few days so we don't start falling into predictable patterns. I was trying to address one of my weak points. I'm used to fighting in the dojo, or on the smooth open lawn in front of my school. I had a lot of trouble with the varied terrain when we first started doing it."

"I see. That was good thinking. The training hall has its place, but those who never move out of the training hall are not true martial artists, but merely hobbyists. For those of us in the Anything Goes school especially, we must learn to make the whole world our training hall if we truly wish to master our art." Genma said, while adopting the pose of a wise sage. "I was saying to Tendo-kun earlier that I would like you to spar with Ranma sometime, Konatsu-kun. I'll have him take Akane's place in the mornings. I think it would benefit you both. I was planning to look for part-time work in any case. I can now do this without fearing the boy's training will suffer too much."

"I'm sure that will be a treat for you, Konatsu-chan. You won't have to hold back as much."

"I'm not holding back nearly as much as you perhaps think I am, Akane-sama. You've improved quite a bit since we began training together. I look forward to seeing what you're capable of when next we meet."

A positively beaming smile broke across Akane's face. Konatsu, who very much prided herself on the depth of  her devotion to Ukyo-sama, found herself blinking at Akane in stupefaction as her brain ever-so briefly shorted out.

Soun blinked back the tears that wanted to flow. Akane, more than any of his girls, had his late wife's smile.

Genma sighed and realized that if his son had ever been on the receiving end of that smile it was highly unlikely he'd ever be able to pry him from her side. It didn't help at all that the girl reminded him of his wife. They did say boys fixated on girls that reminded them of their mothers. _"Ah well. He could certainly do worse. He thrives on challenges. They'll probably do just fine. I just hope she's as interested in his boy form as she seems to be in his girl form…"_

 

The sound of the door to the dojo sliding open had sounded some time ago, but Genma and Soun both assumed it was simply Kasumi there to tell them that dinner was ready, and that she was simply waiting patiently until they were finished. Akane and Konatsu glanced over and both of them waved and smiled.

"Oh! Hello, Auntie! Good to see you again."

"Hello, Akane-chan. That was most impressive. I'm quite looking forward to seeing how strong my grandchildren will be." a soft voice answered from the doorway.

Genma's eyes bugged out and he froze in place, looking terrified.

"Tendo-san, thank you for taking care of my family."

"Ah, ha-ha, you're most welcome, Nodoka-san! Think nothing of it! We've been more than delighted to have them!" Soun answered cheerfully.

"Husband? Will you not come and greet our new daughter?"

Soun looked puzzled, and glanced at Ukyo who was kneeling to one side of Nodoka and clad in a kimono much like the older woman was, with Ranma on the other.

_"That was indeed a girl all along. Where does Akane meet so many cross-dressers?"_

"Daughter?" Soun repeated.

Genma turned to look at the three of them as well, body frozen stiff with terror and a rictus grin etched upon his face. Soun glanced at his friend, and then at the trio at the door again. Nodoka looked placid and had a gentle smile upon her face. Ranma and Ukyo both seemed to be taking some small delight in Genma's terror.

"Yeah, pops, come say hello." Ranma taunted.

"Daughter? Ukyo-sama?" Konatsu inquired. She already knew what was going on, but he figured the small delay would give Genma-sama a chance to pull himself together. He looked quite ill for some reason.

"I'm now an adopted Saotome. Seems Ranchan and I are siblings now." Ukyo replied, her face blank and voice without inflection.

Akane's heart went out to her as she imagined herself in her place, trying to keep up a happy pretense in front of one of her rivals.

"Ah. I see. Congratulations, Saotome-kun, Nodoka-san on such a fine daughter. My own daughter has told me many good things about her. She's a world-class martial artist, a skilled chef, even a business owner at her young age. Quite lovely as well! You'll have to begin beating the boys off with sticks, eh, Saotome-kun? A fine addition to any family." Soun was quick to speak up, smiling kindly at Ukyo. As the father of three daughters himself, he could see all too clearly the young woman's fragile state.

"Indeed. I've long wished for a daughter. I'm sure I could not wish for a better one." Nodoka agreed, still smiling placidly.

Ukyo's hands clenched on her knees and her shoulders hunched as she stared down at the floor with intensity. Though she said not a word, her silent accusation-- _If I'm so great, why didn't you just let me marry your son already?_ \--seemed to echo through the dojo nonetheless.

Soun began looking uncomfortable, so he smiled brightly and jumped to his feet. "Ah, we'll leave all of you alone. You've been apart so long, I'm sure you have lots to say to one another!"

"That is too kind of you, Tendo-san, but please, do not let us drive you from your own training hall."

"No trouble at all. We're all friends here, yes? Take as much time as you need!"

Nodoka rose gracefully to her feet, bowed, and then made her stately way into the dojo, pulling the two teens in her wake like a guard of honor. Soun, Akane and Konatsu hurried from the cloying atmosphere and gently closed the door behind them before fleeing towards the house.

Kasumi came back into the kitchen, now clad in a kimono, as was Akane--and Konatsu, who had redressed once they were done sparring.

"Thank you for keeping an eye on dinner for me, Konatsu-chan."

"It was no trouble, Kasumi-sama."

Nabiki shuffled in dressed in a kimono as well, looking faintly disgusted. "It's too hot for all this. Not to mention I feel like I took a wrong turn and ended up back in the dark ages."

"I think you all look quite lovely." Konatsu said earnestly.

"We don't want our guests to feel overdressed or uncomfortable." Kasumi chided gently. "Konatsu-chan? Could you go keep daddy company?"

"Of course, Kasumi-sama!"

"Akane-chan? Could you go fetch our guests?"

"Sure thing!"

Nabiki tried to make her escape while Akane went hurrying off to the dojo.

"Nabiki-chan?"

_"Damn."_

"Could you begin setting the table and then help me bring everything out?"

"Sure thing, sis."

 

Akane hurried down the covered walkway to the dojo. She couldn't hear any screaming, nor the sounds of anyone being beaten to death, which had to be a good sign, right? She knelt down so she was sideways to the doorway, so she wouldn't be looking directly in when she opened the door. She didn't want to intrude on their privacy…and she didn't want to see uncle Genma sans head in a pool of his own blood.

" _How about that? I think I'd actually miss the old fart if he was dead. I know dad would be devastated, Ranma too for all his disparaging talk about his father. Nodoka I'm still not 100% sure of one way or another. Ukyo'd feel bad for Ranma's sake…but she'd probably still cheer. Nabiki wouldn't care beyond wondering if having a headless body in the dojo would cost us money. Kasumi would fret about the blood staining the floor."_

She steeled herself and slid the doors open just enough that she'd be visible to those within.

"Pardon the intrusion. Dinner is ready whenever all of you wish to join us."

"Thank you, Akane-chan. We'll be along shortly." Nodoka's voice wafted back to her.

She slid the doors shut once more and hurried back to the family room. She noted there were several small bottles of sake warming in the kitchen and a stack of cups waiting. Leave it to Kasumi to sense the tension and take steps to relieve it. It would probably be greeted with a great deal of joy and relief by Genma and Soun both. She grabbed the remaining platter and carried it back to the table, seeing Nabiki had already taken a seat and seemed to be doing her level best to make Konatsu squirm or blush.

_"Hee hee. She seems to be losing her own challenge. What did she expect though? Konatsu was raised as a kunoichi and grew up in a tea house. She learned to flirt from a young age. Alright, she learned to flirt with and flatter men--but she's a quick study, and she's been working on charming women lately."_

She peeked at her sister unobtrusively while setting the food out.

_"I can't tell if she's just playing because she's bored and irritated, or if she's genuinely interested. Probably playing. She seemed pretty put off by her being a 'cross dresser' and has never shown an interest in girls before. I hope so. Poor Ukyo might be induced to a murderous rage if she found herself competing for yet another love interest with yet another Tendo. By the same token, I don't actually want Nabiki getting hurt. Konatsu is devoted to Ukyo, and knows Nabiki well enough by reputation that she likely wouldn't take her interest in her seriously even if it actually was. Geez. Get a move on, Saotomes! The wait is killing me. I just hope it hasn’t killed uncle Genma…"_

Akane had just taken her seat when the Saotomes came shuffling in. Nodoka still looked serene, but then she usually did. Much like Kasumi she had looking serene down to an art form. Ukyo was still subdued, but trying to put a good face on it. Ranma looked slightly tense, but not overly so. Genma looked like someone who had just narrowly avoided execution. That was to be expected as he actually was.

Ranma settled into place beside Akane at the end of the table across from Kasumi, while Nodoka, Genma and Ukyo settled down across from Nabiki, Soun and Konatsu. Kasumi smiled and beamed gently at all of them.

"Welcome, honored guests. We are so pleased to have you join us this evening."

"On behalf of myself and my family, I thank you for your kind and gracious welcome."Nodoka answered graciously.

"I too extend my thanks." Konatsu added.

"In the spirit of family, and good companionship, let us begin."

**"Here's to good food!"**

 

Quite a bit of time was spent passing the food around and making sure everyone got their share. Ranma brightened when he realized that, not only was his father on his best behavior with his mom there, but with Ukyo sitting between them, he couldn't easily reach his food to steal it even if he wanted to.

_"I might actually get to eat my fill tonight! Having my childhood friend-slash-extra-fiancée become my sister is already working out great for me!"_

Akane could practically see his thoughts written on his face and rolled her eyes fondly. _"That idiot. Always thinking with his stomach."_

"Auntie, you must be very relieved to have your family back together again." Kasumi noted once everyone had a chance to eat a bit.

"Oh yes indeed. More than words can say. It has been a very long ten years."

"You must have been quite bored and lonely."

"Lonely, yes, but never bored. Why, it sometimes seemed I was busy day and night expunging debts and troublesome entanglements. Who knew that two men living off the land could incur so many bills?"

Ranma glared at his father, who tried his best to look innocent while keeping his eyes down and his mouth full.

"Oh my."

"Saotomes pay their debts. I'm happy to say we are free of obligations."

"Oh. That must be a tremendous relief."

"Oh it was. Money was quite tight there for a while. Your sister was a tremendous help."

"Oh? Akane?"

"She challenged several dojos and gave me their signs to ransom back to them. I had no idea it could be so profitable. That was what allowed me to cancel out the last of the outstanding marriage agreements."

This time Ranma, Ukyo, Nabiki, and Soun all glared at Genma. Akane continued to eat, looking quite unconcerned. Nodoka and Kasumi were placid as always.

"Oh, goodness."

"Happily most of the dowries in question that needed to be paid off were small things--a sandwich here, a barrel of pickles there. It's surprising though how quickly all those small charges can add up. I was feeling quite pleased with myself until the bills for property damage started coming in."

"Oh my."

"That was when I was forced to sell our home."

"How terrible. You're all of course welcome to stay here as long as you wish. We're practically family, after all." Soun interjected, either not seeing or not caring that Nabiki was now glaring daggers at the side of his head.

"We're happy to have you with us, Auntie." Akane added.

Akane too ignored Nabiki's death stare.

"That's very generous of you. We will of course contribute to the household."

"You're our guests. Please don't mention it." Kasumi interjected cheerfully.

Nabiki glared at the table. No one glared at Kasumi and lived. Not in this house.

"I must insist. I would not have us be a burden. Please allow this."

"I couldn't ask such a thing."

"We're practically family, my dear, so yes you can. Genma will be acquiring work. I will of course be more than happy to help out wherever it is needed. Are you in college, dear? I know that seems to be all the rage among young girls these days. It must be a burden to run a household and attend classes."

Nabiki stopped glaring at the table and eyed Nodoka in interest as Kasumi very subtly brightened.

"I'm not at the moment, though I did harbor some hopes I might further my education somewhat once my sisters were out of high school."

"Nonsense, my dear girl. You're a young woman. You should have a chance to get out into the world for a bit before settling down."

"More tea, auntie?"

"Thank you dear. It's a lovely blend. Wherever did you find it?"

"It's my own mix. I find I prefer to mix my own. I flatter myself to be a bit of a connoisseur."

"You have exquisite taste, dear. I think you don't flatter yourself near enough."

 

Nabiki watched, fascinated in spite of herself, to see the subtle negotiations taking place nearby. She was disappointed but not surprised that Kasumi seemed to be balking slightly at putting the household's daily upkeep in someone else's hands. She'd spent so long subsuming herself in the needs of the family, that she was rather hesitant to cut herself free, even if it meant a bit more freedom and a chance to continue her education--two things she knew full well Kasumi really wanted.

"I'll get the dishes, Kasumi." Akane offered as everyone finished. "Dinner was wonderful as always."

"Don't be silly, Akane, I can take care of it."

"Kasumi. You do so much for all of us every day. Let us do something nice for you once in a while. Don't turn down help when it's offered." Akane chided as she began gathering the dishes.

"I'll help." Ukyo offered.

"Ukyo-chan, you're our guest!"

"Yes, really Ukyo. I've got it."

"Haven't you heard, Akane? We're practically family." Ukyo said sweetly, though there was a wealth of bitterness just beneath the surface. Akane absorbed the jab and smiled back at her, while placing a gentle hand on her wrist.

"I look forward to calling you sister one day." she said with apparent sincerity, before going back to gathering up the nearby dishes. Akane's own jab sunk home with far more effect than Ukyo's own sally did.

Ranma, Konatsu, Genma and Soun went quiet and still. Nabiki looked away and tried not to wince. Kasumi and Nodoka's serenity remained mostly unfazed but developed faint overtones of concern as Ukyo flinched inwardly as though she'd just received a blow to the heart. She sat there trembling for a moment, and then mechanically began gathering up the remainder of the dishes and shuffled off after Akane.

Ranma slumped in place and turned to look wide-eyed at Konatsu, who looked slightly worried as well.

Soun and Genma traded their own alarmed looks. They'd all heard second hand accounts of Akane and Ukyo's battle at the school. From what they'd been told, large swaths of the lawn were still torn up from it. Neither one of them wanted to see such a battle erupt in the kitchen.

Nabiki grimaced and began mentally tabulating how much free cash they had on hand and how much she might have to raise to pay for a new kitchen if the two hot heads decided on a rematch.

Kasumi and Nodoka went back to quietly talking, seeming unconcerned that Armageddon might be unfolding just a few feet away. The rest of them sat tense and silent, listening.

For a while all that could really be heard was the sound of running water and the faint tinkle of the dishes. After several minutes of ominous silence, the radio went on in the kitchen and faint music could be heard. An old crooner ballad played out.

_"That was "I look up when I walk" by Kyu Sakamoto. This is KZZV variety hour. We've got a little something for everyone! Now, here's "Equal Romance, by DoCo!"_

"Oh! I like this one!"

A soft song began playing, then came the sound of Akane singing softly along with the tune. As the second verse started, Ukyo began softly singing along with her. Ranma's eyebrows shot into his hairline. He and Konatsu exchange a look and both of them darted as quietly as they could across the room and flattened themselves against the wall, before carefully peeking into the kitchen. Akane and Ukyo had pulled back the trailing sleeves of their kimono and were now decked out in aprons to protect the silk from the dishwater. They were standing stiffly side by side and washing the dishes. They glanced at each other, and some of the tension began leaving their backs.

A jingle began playing, and the girls started on the cups and glasses. When the commercial ended another cheesy love song started up. This time Ukyo started singing along first. Akane joined in on the chorus. The last of the dishes was dried and set safely out of the way. The pots were gathered up and a new round of washing began.

_"Welcome back to KZZV variety hour. Let's spice things up a bit, shall we?"_

A bouncy pop tune began playing. Akane started the singing this time, though Ukyo chimed in before the first verse was done. As they watched, Akane's head began to bop along with the beat as the song sped up. Ukyo tilted her head slightly to glance at the other girl, and the last of the tension seemed to vanish from both of them. They were soon bopping in unison and then swaying side to side.

Their voices slowly got louder as the song continued. Ukyo suddenly lunged and grabbed two wooden spoons. She kept one and tossed the other to Akane, who grabbed it mid-air. They turned to face each other, dripping soap suds from their hands and each holding their spoon like a microphone. They began singing louder and with more passion. They seemed to get swept up in the music all of a sudden, as they began twirling and dancing around the room, still singing their hearts out, making dramatic movements like they were on stage.

Ranma, who was leaning on Konatsu's head, looked down at him questioningly. Konatsu shrugged and went back to watching.

" _Huh. So even a guy who spent most of his life as a girl doesn't understand them."_

The girls finished with a flourish, and then fell against each other, giggling. They tossed their 'microphones' in with the rest and went back to washing the pots like they hadn't just briefly lost their minds. The tension in their backs was gone now, and their shoulders brushed as they worked their way through the last of the dirty dishes. The soft sound of their quietly chatting voices, interspersed with the occasional giggle, with another bouncy pop song as background filled the kitchen, and seemed to disperse the last of the heavy feelings that had lain over the 'family dinner' for most of the evening, and filled the house with warmth.

The boys crept back to the table with the rest, still mystified, as were Soun, Genma and Nabiki to judge by the looks on their faces. Kasumi and Nodoka just smiled and kept chatting. Soon after dinner Ukyo and Konatsu headed home.

"Akane-chan? Will you help me get the large guest room ready for auntie and uncle? They haven't seen each other in ten years. I think Ranma would prefer his own room."

Akane snorted. "Sure, sis. Where are they?"

"They and Ranma went out to start unloading the pull cart she brought with her that has everything she salvaged from the house before it was sold."

"D-did you say the large guest room?" Soun said fearfully. "Y-y-you can't use that one. It has to remain empty or a fearful calamity will befall this family!"

"Grandfather Happosai is still sealed in a cave where you and uncle left him, dad."

"He's a fearsome demon! We're not sure getting him drunk, blowing him up and sealing him in a cave will stop him!" Soun began wailing.

"If you tell me where the cave is, I can ask the priest at my shrine to take some acolytes and go reinforce the seals."Akane offered.

Soun's hysteria calmed somewhat, but he was still on edge. "I'm not sure it will be enough." he whimpered.

"If it's not, we'll deal with it if and when he escapes, that's all. In the meantime, we have a full house and an empty guest room." Akane pointed out.

"It would be terribly impolite to offer hospitality and then fail to make them welcome and comfortable." Kasumi said in dismay.

"We'd best be charging top-dollar if they're going to be getting the star treatment." Nabiki grumbled.

"Want me to air out the futons?" Akane offered, ignoring her father's weeping.

"If you would, please. I need to make sure we have enough bedding for everyone."

"Auntie might have her own. Maybe we should check before we worry too much about it."

"Oh. That's a good point. I should go ask. Nabiki, you'll help out until I get back, won't you?"

Nabiki grimaced and climbed to her feet to follow Akane, who had already bustled off to get started. Akane passed her in the hall with a couple of futons thrown over her shoulders. Nabiki wandered into the guest room and peeked into the closet, then frowned at the piles and piles of bags that were in there.

"What on earth?"

She opened the nearest one, and was only more confused. She pulled out another, and another and then another, and grimaced in disgust and horror.

"You okay there, sis? What's all that?"Akane asked when she came back.

"Bras." Nabiki pointed to the first bag "Panties. _Used ones_ , it looks like. This one seems to be clean panties. Garter belts. Negligees. Girls' gym shorts. What the hell is all this?"

"Grandfather Happosai's collection. He's a pervert and a panty thief."

"This is disgusting."

"I quite agree. Let's just tie off the bags and take them outside. I'll have Ranma haul them to the dumpster."

"NO! HE'LL KILL US ALL!" Soun wailed, as he suddenly burst into the room and fell to his knees, pleading.

Akane ignored him, just proceeded to squeeze the air out of all the trash bags and tie them off.

**"RANMA!"**

" **What?!"**

**"I NEED YOUR HELP."**

When Ranma showed up and was told what was in the bags and why it was there, he grimaced in disgust and gathered several in each hand while balancing one on his head, and gave his trembling father and Soun a dirty look as he staggered out to dispose of everything.

Kasumi arrived shortly after, and she and Akane hummed cheerfully as they began dusting the place and setting everything to order. At the back of the closet, Akane found a pack and a smallish chest. She peeked in the pack and found scrolls, and when she glanced in the chest, she saw the Nanban mirror setting on top of the contents.

"What's that, Akane?" Kasumi asked.

"More panties. I'll take it outside for Ranma."

"Alright."

Akane did her best to look like someone taking out trash, and not someone with a pile of lost Amazon treasures in her hands, but it was difficult. She must have pulled it off, as no one stopped her. Once out of sight of everyone she hurried up to her room with her stolen booty as quietly as she could manage and hid both in the depths of her closet.

" _I'll have to find a better hiding spot for this stuff once I go through it. Nabiki spends too much time raiding my closet for it to be at all safe._ "

She saw Ranma just outside unloading a cart when she returned. She darted out to whisper to him.

"If asked you took a pack and a small chest filled with more underwear to the dumpster. I'll explain later."

"Wha…"

Akane didn't answer, just hurried back to the guest room to see if there was anything she missed.

"It's so nice all this space will start being used. It always seemed such a waste to me."

"I quite agree, Kasumi. Much better to have it used as it was meant to." Akane agreed.

"We're just about done here. You two can start bringing Auntie's things in." Kasumi ordered the two men who were still trembling and looking over their shoulders as the Master's lair was defiled by all these stubborn women who didn't comprehend the hell that would be unleashed on all of them.

Kasumi smiled, and radiated a certain gentle implacability that was hard to describe in words, but was hopeless to resist. The men sagged in defeat and shuffled off to start hauling and carrying for another gently implacable woman.

In little time at all, Nodoka's things were neatly stored away in the new space, Genma's pack unpacked and added to the closet and drawers. Bits of cash he had squirreled away in different places was collected and tucked safely away in Nodoka's obi, and her very sharp sword was set on a nice display stand that Kasumi was kind enough to pull out of storage and polish up.

"There! That's much nicer, don't you agree?" Kasumi said with satisfaction once the job was done.

Soun just nodded meekly.

Nodoka knelt down in the middle of her and Genma's new room and beamed at everyone.

"Thank you so much for you kindness and hospitality."

"It was no trouble, Auntie, really."

"Still, I thank you. Husband? Come. We've long been parted, and we still have much to talk about."

"Yes, dear." Genma nodded tiredly, before shuffling into the room like a man facing his doom.

 

 

"So, what are we doing in here, anyway?" Ranma wondered.

He was seated in the middle of the floor of the guest room that he had until a few moments ago shared with his father.

"Making this room your own, now that you don't have to share it." Akane explained.

"I can store everything just fine in my pack. That's what we've done the last ten years."

"Maybe so, but you're home now. If you need to go on another training trip, you can repack your bag for the weekend or whatever." Akane said airily as she continued putting away his clothing in the chest and closet. "Hmm. We should see if we have a small bookcase packed away somewhere. If not, I'm sure we can find something second-hand." she announced as she finished.

She put her hands on her hips and stood surveying the room critically. Ranma just stayed put on the floor and watched her with a small smile on his face.

"AHA!" she suddenly said, smacking her fist into her hand.

She marched out. He could hear her enter her own room, the sound of stuff being moved around and tossed aside. She came back a few minutes later with a couple of bookends in one hand and a pile of old manga in the other arm. She set the lot up on top of the chest in the room, fiddled with it till it was straight and the manga were all lined up neatly. She gestured at the finished product like a hostess on a game show.

"They add a bit of color and personality to the room and give you something to do on a rainy afternoon when training and homework are finished for the day, and it's a few hours yet till dinner!"

She then tapped her lips as she looked around again. She frowned at the blank expanse of wall opposite the closet. She marched off again and returned a few minutes later with a scroll that she attached to the wall and let unroll. She fiddled with it a bit to make it hang straight, and then spent a few minutes trying to smooth out part of the rice paper that had bubbled when attached to the silk backing. In fact…now that he looked, there were a couple spots like that and the whole thing was ever so slightly crooked. He looked at what was depicted on the scroll and realized it was an ink painting--a strange one.

There was a jagged line and a blob zigzagging across the expanse with another misshapen blob just above it. There was some calligraphy too. Ranma squinted his eyes and read the short poem, which was apparently a haiku by Basho.

_On a withered branch,_

_a crow has alighted;_

_nightfall in autumn._

He frowned and looked at the 'painting' again and his face lit with sudden realization. Akane was still fussing with the thing, looking increasingly unhappy the longer she stared at it.

"It's a branch with a single leaf and a crow about to land on it, huh?"

Akane turned to him in surprise and barely hidden hopefulness.

"You can tell?"

Somehow, Ranma managed to keep a straight face.

"Oh, sure. What else could it be?"

She bit her lip and then asked in a rather small voice.

"Do you, um, like it?"

Ranma realized suddenly how much power he had over this fierce, sweet, ridiculous girl. It was as heady as it was terrifying. For once in his life he managed to beat down his smart alec mouth before it got him in trouble.

"It's perfect, Akane."

She blinked a few times as though she wasn't quite sure she'd heard him right, and then her cheeks pinked and a truly adorable shy smile stole over her face.

Ranma's heart went KA-THUMP at the sight.

_"Oh man. I am really in trouble here."_

 

Ranma looked back at the ink painting so he could get his heart rate back under control and his head together. He fiddled with his pigtail as he cast around for a change of subject.

"Oh! Hey! What was all that about earlier? What chest and pack filled with underwear did I take to the dumpster?"

"Hmm? Oh! That's right. I need to go through that stuff and find a safer place to store it."

She looked down at the fancy kimono she was still wearing.

"I'll tell you what. Let me get out of this thing and put it away, and I'll explain then."

Ranma nodded, so she hurried off. He sighed, and then found himself looking around at the room he was in.

"My own room. I've never had one of those before."

It was an odd, but satisfying feeling. He'd never been in one place long enough to really grow too attached; there was no point. With the sense of peace and belonging came a whole new realization.

_"Getting attached means I've now got something to lose."_

He must have sat lost in thought for longer than he realized, as Akane came back, clad in yellow pajamas, and carrying a small battered chest and pack. She set the stuff down and shut the screen behind her.

"There's more room in here." she explained.

"Okay. So, what is this stuff?"

"It was in the closet in your parents' room. It belonged to Happosai."

"The panty pervert. So, why do we want his nasty panty collection?"

"That's not what's in here. I just told Kasumi that so no one would worry about it. He's the grandmaster of our school, and he trained our dads. They're pretty sure he's a demon or something. They got him really drunk, threw him in a barrel filled with dynamite, threw that in a cave that they sealed with a giant boulder and some demon suppressing seals. The first time around he escaped in a few months, still alive after all this time. Hopefully if they reinforce the seals he'll stay there a while longer."

"Was he really that evil?"

"He's a panty thief and a pervert. He goes around peeping, stealing underwear, groping women and feeding off our ki. He's childish and petty and a nuisance, and he is in fact quite dangerous, but he's also easily distracted. You and I were his favorite targets. You'd usually punt him when he tried to jump on me, but that meant he'd just bounce back, throw water on you and start crawling all over your girl-boobs and squeezing them, or trying to stuff you into a lacy bra and panties."

Ranma gave a full-body twitch and looked at her in horror.

"Yeah, pretty much. He was fast, resilient, had a few neat tricks, and I'm sure having to deal with him regularly made you stronger… I'm just not sure any of it was worth the aggravation involved."

"So, what's all this stuff then?"

"Some years ago, I’m not sure how long exactly, he ran amok in the Chinese Amazon's village. He defeated half their warriors and robbed them of a lot of their ancient treasures, which he tended to trot out now and again when he was feeling petty or vindictive. These were the only things I saw that didn't seem to be filled with underwear. I spotted one of the Amazon 0treasures in the chest, and the pack is filled with scrolls."

"Oh?"

"I haven't looked at them yet, so I don't know if it's anything useful. I figured we could go through them and see. The Amazon stuff I need to hide somewhere. It's all nothing but trouble, and none of it seemed to work exactly as advertised. Any of it would be beyond troublesome if it fell in the wrong hands. I can't leave the stuff in my closet. Nabiki's always going in there and stealing my stuff. I don't want her walking off with any of it, not knowing it's magic and getting into trouble. I don't want to tell her it's magic either and hope she'll just leave it alone, because I'm not 100% sure she actually will. She's used to being the smartest person in the room a lot of the time, which means she'll ignore my warnings if she decides they're bunk. I'm not sure where to put it that she won't find it."

"Oh. Why not in here then?"

"I'm sorry to break this to you Ranma, but when you have siblings, even having your own room isn't enough. If she's snooping for information, or trying to plant something to get you in trouble or… I don't know…whatever Nabiki thing she's doing at the moment, she'll be in here and poking through your stuff rather shamelessly."

"Too bad for her, but I don't have much in the way of stuff for her to rummage through."

"Yeah, but you see the problem though."

"Yeah. So…no, that wouldn't be any good… or maybe…no, same problem. Does she go in the dojo?"

"Not really. There is storage space beneath the roof. We could stick it up there." Akane considered. She nodded then, decisively. "Okay. Be careful, and stay on the beams. You and I fell through the ceiling there once because we were sitting between the beams and it collapsed beneath our weight."

"Aw man. Do I have to do it right now?"

"Ranma, this stuff is dangerous. Look…"

She opened the chest and carefully poked through the stuff inside, and pulled a bracelet free.

"This is just one of the items. The three stones are actually love pills. One lasts an instant, one for a day and the last for a _lifetime_. They all look alike, so you can't tell which is which until you see how long it lasts. You fall in love with the first person you see and it completely subverts your will. They work. I've seen them in action. How'd you like to have the forever pill stuffed down your gullet while in girl form and land in front of Kuno, huh?"

Ranma turned green, smacked the evil bracelet back into the chest, gathered it up and vanished out the window. He returned several minutes later.

"Done. It's in the far corner of the dojo's crawl space wedged beneath the rafters."

"Good." Akane let out a sigh.

"Alright. Let's see those scrolls."

Akane pushed the sack off to the side and handed him his bookbag.

"First we need to do our homework. After you left I remembered neither of us had."

"Aw man!"

Ranma settled down rather sulkily and they got started. An agonizing forty-five minutes later he was all but vibrating in place as Akane looked over his math homework to see how well it matched hers.

"We either both did well, or we both screwed up pretty badly. I usually do well in math class, so I'm guessing we're alright."

"Great. Let's look at one of the scrolls!"

"We still have…"

"Just one won't hurt, right?"

Akane sighed and nodded. "I guess a peek won't hurt. We really do need to finish the rest of this though."

Ranma was already poking through the bag, and withdrew a fairly hefty scroll with a red and gold silk backing and gold tasseled strings binding it closed. He carefully untied it and unrolled the first few inches.

"I can't read most of this, but I know this here means 'advanced techniques'." Ranma said cheerfully.

"Um Ranma… the symbols after it don't look like…"

Ranma sent a good portion of the scroll unrolling across both their laps.

Akane glanced down, winced. Ranma froze and soon both kids faces were incandescent.

"They…don't seem to be fighting."

Akane managed to unfreeze enough to roll the scroll back up. Neither of them could look at each other afterwards.

"Seems pretty thorough." Akane said nervously as she set it aside. "We'll save this till after we're married."

Ranma's face got, impossibly, more red than it already was.

"We might have to take up yoga beforehand… although, I suppose we're both already pretty limber."

Ranma let out a tiny whimper and very nonchalantly laid down on his stomach. When he was sure his voice wouldn't squeak, he spoke up.

"So…how about we do English next?"

"Hmmm? Oh, right, homework."

Akane stretched out on her own stomach beside him. "English next, huh?"

"Yeah. Good old English."

Ranma concentrated for all he was worth on the assignment, if only to push away the distracting images from earlier--or rather Akane in place of the drawn female figures on the scroll. He really should have known better than to be so careless with the belongings of a known pervert.

_"Damn it. I hate doing this stuff anyway… it's really not providing a suitable distraction. Stupid Akane seems fine--not distracted at all. That's not fair."_

He could feel the warmth of her laid out at his side. Every time she moved the scent of her strawberry shampoo wafted right up his nose. He found himself suddenly beyond relieved to know he'd be in here by himself tonight. He had a feeling his dreams were going to be interesting.

Just imagining his parents listening in if he woke them in the night was enough to send a thrill of horror through the boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before anyone comments on the pronouns used for Konatsu changing and sometimes being 'him', sometimes 'her', I know and that was done purposefully. Akane has decided Konatsu is a girl if she feels she's one, just as Ranma is a boy even in cursed form because he feels like one, so she stopped thinking 'him' and started thinking 'her'. Ranma, Soun, Genma and Nabiki have decided that physical gender is the deciding factor, regardless of presentation. To them Ukyo is a girl even when dressed as a boy, and Konatsu is a boy, even when dressed as a girl.  
> Kasumi, much like Akane, has decided that as Konatsu seems to be presenting quite happily as female, she'll respect that.  
> To do otherwise would be unspeakably rude. 
> 
> Thank you everyone who has left comments/kudos so far. I don't always answer comments, but I do always read and appreciate them.


	6. Matchmaking, a dinner party, and Shampoo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Tendo dojo gets a few more house guests.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "[...]" = speaking in Chinese. Akane sounds like Shampoo speaking Japanese when she speaks it because she's not well practiced yet. Shampoo sounds fine as it's her native language. 
> 
> Thank you everyone who have left comments and kudos. Sorry for the delay between chapters. Real life intruded. I'm going to try to get a few more chapters up over the next few days.

"Man. I can't believe what nosy people go to school with us. I'm glad it's over. I thought sure Ucchan was going to snap and end up killing someone." Ranma mused as they wandered home after another trying day at school.

"I did too. I'm glad she seems to have come to terms with things or it could have gotten ugly. For all that I understand her frustration though, you really can't blame everyone for being curious. She showed up a few weeks ago, in full-on boy mode and we got into a fairly vicious fight. Since then we've been alternating in our weird way between acting like friends and acting like enemies. Then, after all that, we and Kuno all disappeared for two weeks, and word goes around that I got kidnapped by a Chinese prince and both she and Kuno ran off to rescue me. Then, when we all reappear, I have you in tow and you make your debut by trashing the hentai horde and battling Kuno, while telling everyone I'm your fiancée and off the market. She spends the whole day upset and then by the time school started this morning, Nabiki has already spread the word that she "became a Saotome" the night before, and lets everyone think you two got married. I swear, that girl." Akane muttered under her breath for a bit, then calmed and continued. "Then, when we all show up, she's in girl-mode, we all seem to be friends, and she helps us battle the hentai horde that re-formed in the wake of the rumors, so we can all get to school on time. I'm sure no one really knew what to think, which is why we all spent the whole day being interrogated by all and sundry."

"I get that, but geez, you tell one guy the whole story, and then the guy standing right next to him, who heard the whole thing asks you again like he hadn't just heard it all. And how about the creeps coming out of the woodwork to perv on my "cute sister" all of a sudden? And what was with your friends? They were glaring bloody murder at Ucchan through most of the morning, but then everyone seemed to be best friends at lunch time."

"They'd heard the rumors Nabiki spread and thought she'd feigned an end to our quarrel to seduce my man, and convinced you to run off with her. They were upset on my behalf. They thought you rather dashing, you see, and they were disappointed that you were actually a two-timing jerk."

"Geez."

"Oh, Dr. Tofu. We should go see him. The clinic doesn't look busy."

"Do we hafta?"

"He's a good doctor and a nice person. He's quite knowledgeable, and he might very well be able to find out more about Jusenkyo and the curses if he makes inquiries."

"Did he find out anything last time?"

"I don't know. I don't think we specifically asked him to find out anything. After Cologne, the Amazon elder arrived, we usually ended up asking her about weird stuff. There was usually Amazon magic or a stolen Amazon treasure at the root of it, so she was a good source of information, even though half the time she was the source of whatever problem we were having, since Shampoo was always going through her potions stores and jewelry box."

"I don't know if I ever asked, but why were there Chinese Amazons living in Nerima before?"

"They were here to try to force you to marry Shampoo."

"The crazy girl that's chasing Ryoga?"

"The same."

"And that Mousse guy wants her for himself, so he's chasing Ryoga too?"

"Yeah. Last time they were both after you. Shampoo thought you were a girl at first, gave you the kiss of death and hunted you and your dad relentlessly across China and did her level best to kill you every time she caught up with you. After she caught up with you here she tried to kill you some more, but then she found out you were a boy, she gave you the kiss of marriage and started chasing you just as relentlessly. She gave up after a short while and went home. Her great-granny tossed her into Jusenkyo and cursed her with a cat form for her failure and came with her to make sure she didn't fail again. Mousse followed after and tried to defeat you so he could claim Shampoo instead. Mousse remembers, but Shampoo doesn't. It was rather interesting talking to her without that shared history and her seeing me as an obstacle for killing. Looking back, I'm not really sure how serious she was about killing me. She gave me the kiss of death, and did a lot of rotten things…but she never told Mousse or her granny that she gave me the kiss of death. In fact, even her granny I’m not sure what to think of. She did a lot of mean things, and insisted on calling you 'the groom' or 'son-in-law' all the time…but there were times she helped you when she had nothing to gain, so I'm not really sure what her deal was."

"They sound like they're all nuts."

"Well, yes, they were. They could be sort of fun when they weren't trying to kill or date you though. They helped with entertainment at our Christmas parties, and they were usually along to help out during our wacky adventures, so as troublesome as they were, it's actually kind of odd not having them around."

"We have such weird friends."

"Well…yes. Yes we do." Akane laughed. "They're mostly good people though. Speaking of which… While we're at the clinic, if Kasumi is mentioned or shows up, be prepared to dodge, okay?"

"Huh? Why?" Ranma had a sudden image of Kasumi, filled with rage, throwing things at the doc, screaming 'YOU CAD!', while the nice doc cowered before her wrath. It seemed so out of character for the eldest Tendo sister that he had a hard time even imagining it.

"Doctor Tofu likes my sister… or maybe he's allergic to her. I'm not sure. He acts like a bit of lunatic when she's around. Everyone in town is wary of being around him when she's around, because he becomes completely unhinged. I think she likes him back--at least, she's always coming by to borrow books from him and usually brings him food when she visits."

"Okay… What's it have ta do with anything? We just won't mention her, and if she shows up we get out before he goes psycho on us."

"Well, that's the thing. I've decided to play matchmaker."

"You should let them work it out themselves."

"I will. I'm not going to do anything too interfering. I'm just going to drop a subtle hint to try to prod him along. If they do like each other, he needs to know that he needs to pull himself together and do something about it or he might miss his chance."

"She get a new boyfriend or something? What is it, don't you like the guy?"

"She doesn't as far as I know, but she's seriously considering signing up for the fall term at the local university. How long do you think someone like Kasumi is going to remain single once she starts attending classes regularly with smart, handsome guys her age every day?"

"Not long. Someone'll snatch her up right quick."

"Exactly! If Dr. Tofu doesn't make a move, and soon, he might very well lose his chance forever. Kasumi, once she agrees to start dating someone, isn't the sort who'll be two-timing them or anything, so once it happens, he's lost any chance with her. Kasumi deserves a chance for happiness and for her own life. If she does like Dr. Tofu and he her, I'd like to see them at least try to make a go of things."

Ranma side-eyed Akane and sighed. Judging by the fire in her eyes, and the determination that seem to fill her limbs, she was gonna interfere no matter what he said.

"Do you have a plan?"

"Well…I was thinking that…"

They crouched down close together, looked around carefully for eavesdroppers and she laid out her plan in a whisper.

"Alright. I'm in. How're we gonna do this?"

"It's fine! I brought props!"

Ranma was suitably impressed by how prepared she was. She handed him his share of things, which he tucked away, ready to be deployed when the time was right.

"If we work together we can't possibly lose!"

"Do your thing, and I'll make sure we live through it."

They each pumped a fist into the air. "TEAMWORK!"

They nodded to each other firmly and Ranma strode towards the door, cracking his knuckles, Akane marching along right beside him. "Right. Let's do this thing."

The door swung open just as he was reaching for it.

"Pops! What are you doing here?" Ranma said in surprise.

They'd been about to enter the clinic, only to run into Genma-panda on his way out. Akane noted the broom he had in hand and vaguely recalled he'd worked for doctor Tofu for a while the first time around. Sure enough, Genma held up a sign.

"Working. You don't look hurt."

"I'm not! How'd I get hurt bad enough to need a doc while I was at school?"

"We're just here to say hi to Dr. Tofu. We told him we'd stop by." Akane interjected.

Genma growfed at them and left the building to start sweeping the sidewalk outside.

 

"Ah! Akane, Ranma! I was wondering when I'd see you two again! Tell me, Ranma…your condition wouldn't happen to be a Jusenkyo curse, would it?"

"You've heard of it then?"

"Dummy. Your dad's a panda right now."

"Oh, right." Ranma said rather sheepishly.

"I know. It becomes so commonplace after a while you actually start to forget how weird it is." Akane admitted.

"It is rather strange." Tofu agreed. "I've never heard of or seen anything like it."

"So you wouldn't have any ideas on where to look for a cure then?" Ranma asked, disappointed.

"I wouldn't, no. I do have a few colleagues I can make inquiries of. If they don't know anything, one of them might know someone who does." Tofu assured them. "So, what do you turn into anyway?"

Ranma's reply was mumbled, so Tofu asked him to repeat himself.

"It's easier to show you." Akane sighed. She grabbed a bit of cold water from the water cooler and dumped it on Ranma's head.

Tofu's eyes widened at his transformation.

"Remarkable…" he said, bending down so he could get a closer look. He raised his hand as though ready to poke Ranma, seemed to think better of it when the boy/girl glowered at him, and straightened up.

"That's some transformation. While I was startled at your father's transformation, it's not nearly as surprising as yours is. Your father stays the same relative shape and size, he just gets a bit furry. You, on the other hand, are at least a foot shorter and probably weigh half as much. I wouldn't have thought such a thing possible, and yet here I see the proof right in front of my eyes."

He gestured for them both to take a seat and poured the three of them some tea. Ranma nearly dumped his on his head, but Akane grabbed it off him before he could.

"Idiot! Use the thermos!"

"I thought it was empty already."

"I refilled it at lunchtime."

"Oh, hey, that was good thinking!"

Tofu just grinned in amusement at the byplay and watched how they interacted with one another. They made small talk for a bit. Akane let the conversation wander, not wanting to be too obvious. After a few minutes she judged enough time had passed to get started. "

OH! I forgot to mention it, but Kasumi will probably start college in the fall!"

"K-K-Kasumi?"

"I’m so happy for her. She's wanted to continue her education, but couldn't really do it so long as Nabiki and I were still in high school. Now that Ranma's mother is with us, she has an opportunity now that she didn't have before to have her own life… maybe start dating!"

"K-Kasumi…. Dating?"

"Yeah! A pretty girl like that, so nice, such a good cook… Anyone'd snatch her up in a heartbeat!"

"K-Kasumi…"

 

The lights suddenly vanished, and a spotlight illuminated the far corner of the room. It was Akane. She was wearing a frilly apron, and had her long hair pulled over her shoulder in a ponytail like her elder sister customarily wore.

"Oh, College!" Akane said with an approximation of Kasumi's normal genteel manner. "A chance to better myself…and perhaps to finally find love!"

Her face was suddenly filled with quiet anguish

"There was once a man I perhaps could have loved… but he could never pull himself together enough to ask me on a proper date. I was so alone…"

She suddenly seemed alight with hope, and her clasped hands trembled beneath her chin

"But…perhaps a handsome college student will do so? Dare I allow myself to hope? Or…is it my fate to be lonely ever more?!"

A second spotlight flashed into being, showing Ranma, now wearing a moustache and standing heroically posed.

"Never, Kasumi Tendo! You are far too fine a woman to ever suffer such a fate!"

Akane gasped and turned in slow motion, seemingly overcome by the sight of the man.

"Oh my! A handsome college student!"

"I am indeed…and unlike that other fellow, I can definitely pull myself together enough to ask you for a proper date!"

"Oh my!"

"Kasumi, will you go out with me?"

"I don't know what to say!"

"Say yes, and make me the happiest man on earth."

"YES, handsome college student!"

The room's lights went back on as "Kasumi" and "the handsome college student" clasped hands and gazed soulfully in each other's eyes. "Kasumi" thumped the wall behind the two of them and a large banner unrolled, providing the two lovers with a backdrop of radiating sunbeams, with the words "GOLDEN FUTURE" inscribed above.

Dr. Tofu stared at the image, entranced and horrified. He suddenly looked down and realized he was clad in a ragged, dusty cloak, and clutching a gnarled staff in one hand. There was a worn, battered wooden road sign slightly in front of him, pointing away from the lovers and their golden future. It read "LONELYVILLE JUST AHEAD POPULATION: YOU.

"Um…"

All three froze and turned to look at the doorway. Kasumi stood framed within it, a plate of cookies in her hands.

Ranma and Akane tittered nervously. Tofu seemed to quiver in place.

"Kasumi! Hi!" Ranma squeaked.

"Oh wow! Is that the time? We have to go!" Akane said a bit too loudly.

"We do?"

"Yes. For that thing."

"What thing?"

"That thing we have to do right now!"

"Right! That thing! I can't believe I almost forgot!"

Ranma kept tight hold of Akane's hand, darted forward, grabbed both their bookbags, and they hightailed it out of there.

Tofu quivered again. Genma stared after his fleeing son and future daughter in law, peeked in the room and held up a sign.

"What the hell is going on?"

Tofu trembled in place.

**Golden Future! Lonelyville! Kasumi in the doorway with cookies!**

His hands clenched on the staff, his knees knocked together.

**Golden Future! Lonelyville! Kasumi in the doorway with cookies!**

"Dr. Tofu?"

A hysterical giggle tried to make its way out of his mouth.

_"Oh, if only the man I might have loved had only pulled himself together enough to ask me for a proper date!"_

**Handsome college student. HANDSOME COLLEGE STUDENT!**

_"…a proper date…" "…pull himself together…"_

L **ONELYVILLE. POPULATION: YOU.**

"Doctor? Are you alright?"

 

 

Ranma and Akane slowed their headlong rush after a block when there was no pursuit in evidence. Akane nibbled on her thumbnail anxiously.

"I wish we'd gotten to see if he had an epiphany or not."

"I'm sure he did. He seemed to have gotten the message, at least."

"Yeah, but I'm worried that Kasumi showing up during his emotional upheaval might have undone all our work. I just hope his fragile psyche wasn't shattered. He's too good a doctor to have his reputation and practice destroyed because he went on a psychotic rampage after my sister showed up."

"Well…I don't hear any screaming. That's probably a good sign, right?"

"You're right. Your dad was close by enough to have gotten caught up in it. Even as a panda, I'm sure we'd have heard him if Doctor Tofu had gotten his hands on him."

"See? No worries."

They smiled at each other and continued on home. Akane very carefully didn't draw any attention to the fact that they were still holding hands. Old Ranma would have freaked out, insulted her and had a spaz attack…not to mention all the fiancée brigade would have started raining down from all sides and trying to separate their hands--even if they had to cut off her hands to manage it. She wasn't sure how new Ranma would react. He was…much more relaxed this time around. Friendlier. Nicer. The added proof that their rocky relationship could be lain almost solely at her feet left her feeling rather down in spite of how nice his hand felt in hers.

 _"I guess I actually owe Ukyo one for her stupid stunt."_ she mused. " _It gave me a chance to make amends. He did so much for me, in spite of how I treated him. He was so stressed and unhappy before I went on my rampage to try to end the mess once and for all. Even the most easy-going guy on earth has his limit, and he'd reached his."_

She glanced over at the boy at her side, taking in the peaceful face, the small smile, the bright eyes and she felt and answering smile break across her own face.

_"I like seeing him happy."_

Ranma turned to look at Akane and caught the edge of her beaming smile as she turned back to face the road. It took far more concentration than he wanted to admit to needing to not trip over his own feet. He was hyper-aware of the small, warm hand clasped so trustingly in his own. He concentrated on not squeezing or twitching it so she wouldn't notice that he'd never let go.

_"Or has she noticed and doesn't mind? We are engaged. I'm allowed to hold her hand without it being weird, ain't I? She said she was afraid of those stupid perverts at school. She's not afraid of me though, right? Not anymore at least. Not this time around. Maybe she doesn't mind. Can I do other stuff? Can I hug her and maybe k-kiss her without her kicking me in the face and thinking I'm a pervert like those jerks are?"_

Ranma's mind had just started to drift into a small daydream about a warm, snuggly Akane wrapped around him, when he suddenly jerked to attention as Akane pulled a fan from her sleeve, opened it and flicked away a jet of cold water that was headed right for them. She flicked the water off, snapped it closed and tucked it back away without breaking stride. She caught Ranma staring at her.

"What? I've learned by now that your curse seems to draw water to you, and you seem completely unable to sense it coming until it's too late. I know your shoes don't fit when you change form, not to mention you'll probably end up tripping over the cuffs of your pants--there's no drawstring at the bottom to keep them above your feet."

"Plus you don't want to be seen with a weird, wet, crossdressing girl while traipsing through your neighborhood in the middle of the day." Ranma added glumly.

Akane elbowed him in the side.

"No. I meant exactly what I said. I always see you, no matter what form you're in." she growled. She gave him an impish smile then. "Besides…you're as pretty a girl as you are handsome a boy. I figure either way, anyone who sees us will just decide I have excellent taste."

Ranma had to look away to compose himself. He was thankful when Akane tactfully looked away as well and pretended not to notice his distress, but tightened her hand in his as though to let him know she was still there. When he'd swallowed the tightness in his throat and willed away the prickling in his eyes, he let out a slow breath and kept ambling along, eager to put the whole unmanly episode behind him.

Up ahead the dojo came into view. As they made their way to the door, something else Akane said suddenly came back to him with the force of a lightning bolt to the brain.

_"She thinks I'm handsome…and she knows we were holding hands. Maybe she won't mind…"_

This electrifying thought brought a whole new set of troubles to the teen's mind.

_"How the heck am I supposed to let her know I want to? I can't just pounce on her, right? Am I supposed to ask? Drag her into a dark corner? How the heck do people normally figure this stuff out?"_

 

"So, did you have a good day at school?" Nodoka asked as she set down a plate of snacks and started pouring tea for both of them.

"I guess. It was mostly annoying." Ranma shrugged.

"Akane not joining us?"

"She said she was going to get started on her homework. It's just us. Where's everyone else at anyway? I know Kasumi is at Dr. Tofu's…"

"Oh! Is that what the 'errand' she had to run was? Hee hee. I had no idea. Wait…why were you in to see a doctor? Oh! Is Akane-chan getting birth control pills?"

"ACK!"

"I don't really approve…children are a blessing and should be welcomed with open arms… but you are both quite young yet, and it would interfere with her education…"

"IT WASN'T LIKE THAT!" Ranma squeaked. "And anyway he's a chiropractor or something. I don't think he does that."

"Oh. I suppose I'll have to take her to a woman's doctor, unless you prefer to dear? You can turn into a woman…"

"GAAAAAHHH!"

"Although that wouldn't be particularly manly, would it? Very well, I shall see it done."

"I haven't even kissed her yet and you already have us having babies!"

"You haven't? Goodness, why ever not? You shouldn't keep the poor girl waiting like that."

Ranma whimpered. Nodoka covered her mouth and giggled. Ranma glowered at her suspiciously and then pouted.

"Forgive me my teasing, son. I have a lot of lost time to make up for, that's all." Her gaze softened somewhat when he continued pouting. She patted his hand and smiled at him gently. "Don't worry about things so much. Just enjoy your time together and let things happen naturally."

"How though? I didn't exactly meet a lot of girls in the places me and pops were at, ya know."

"You already have many of the skills you need, you just need to learn to use them in social situations and not just in battle."

"What do you mean?"

"Well…you've learned to read an opponent, to spot a feint and guard against the real attack, correct?"

"Well, sure."

"You must now learn to do so when your opponents are using words, not fists. You already have the skills, you've just never applied them this way, except perhaps to cadge free food from street vendors." she frowned at him mildly. "You need to start paying attention to the people around you in the same way. Take note of the mood, see when a person's words and their body language contradict one another, learn to spot verbal traps and how to avoid them. It will take practice and determination my son, but I have no doubt that you will succeed. And, when you've learned how to navigate this new battlefield, you won't have to worry about how to convince Akane-chan to accept your manly embrace. She'll let you know when the time is good for such a thing and when she's receptive, just as she will learn to read the same intention from you. Once that happens, just let nature take its course."

Ranma was red-faced, and ready to bury himself in a hole somewhere… but at the same time… "Um, thanks, mom."

"No, son, thank you."

"Huh? What for?"

"I've missed so much of your life already. Thank you for forgiving me for that and giving me a chance to be a mother to you."

"Geez, mom, you don't have to thank me for that."

"But I do." Nodoka insisted, face earnest. "Every bad thing that happened to you can be laid at my feet."

As his mother continued to detail all the many ways she'd failed him, Ranma could only sigh.

_"Geez. It's no wonder mom and Akane get along so well. They've both got a martyr complex and seem to think they destroyed my life in some way, when it's pretty obvious, to me at least, that they were probably both bright spots in this terrible future they all keep hinting at."_

 

 

Akane sighed, rolled her head around a few times to loosen her stiff neck, and climbed to her feet, feeling rather down.

 _"Quiet and stillness continue to defeat me. I can call up my power as needed every time I fight, even if I'm not angry, which is an improvement, but it's not enough. Barriers call for stillness and absolute concentration, and that continues to defeat me. I can't call up so much as a scrap of power unless someone is attacking me."_ she thought to herself in despair.

She got into a beginning tai chi stance and began to move slowly through the forms.

_"This style is all about directing and redirecting energy. Chiyo-sensei seemed to think it would help, but so far I've as much trouble calling up my power with this as I do while meditating. I'll never be able to complete my basics and move on to more advanced techniques if I can't get over this block!"_

She completed the set, frowned and went back to the beginning stance. She closed her eyes and tried to sense her power as she began moving slowly through the forms a second time.

_"Nothing. Damn it."_

Back to starting position, she began once more.

"Geez, Akane" Ranma scoffed, poking her in the sides and making her jump "You're doing this all wrong. Tai Chi is all about being relaxed and letting everything flow. You're so tense you're probably going to explode at some point. What are you even trying to do?"

Akane let her arms drop to her sides and hung her head. "It doesn't matter. It's not working anyway. I don't know why I'm even bothering. I'm just kidding myself." she muttered.

She let out a sigh and started to turn away, only to be stopped by Ranma's hands on her shoulders. He tried to see her face, but as she still had her head down he couldn't. He began rubbing her shoulders.

"I wasn't kidding about how tense you are. Geez. You're solid as a rock."

"Thick as a brick."

Ranma frowned at the top of her head thoughtfully and kept rubbing. There was a story there, he could tell; and by the sound of her voice it wasn't a happy one. She was still tense and obviously unhappy under his hands-- a small bit of the tension leaked out, but not nearly enough.

"What were you trying to do?" he asked again. When she explained, he frowned thoughtfully as he continued lightly rubbing her shoulders. "Pushing hands."

"Huh?"

"Pushing hands. We'll go slow, take things easy. If you need an opponent, I'll give you one."

Akane finally lifted her head and looked at him. "Really? And you won't just dodge or run away and make fun of me?"

"Why would I do that?"

"Because sometimes you're a jerk."

"Gee, thanks."

Akane shrugged and didn't say anything more. Ranma frowned again, but decided to ignore it for the moment.

"Try and relax some and we'll get started."

Akane stepped back away from him, much to his disappointment, rolled her shoulders and stretched for a few minutes before nodding at him and getting in to position.

 

Push, deflect, push, deflect…

They began, surging back and forth like the gentle roll of the tide. She was still tenser than he liked, but she was focused on the task and seemed a bit less despondent. That was good; he didn't like that Akane much. He liked her happy and smiling. He liked her fierce and determined. Sad and hopeless and wounded--it made his insides hurt to see her like that. He couldn't sense her spirit energy directly like he could have another's ki, but he could feel something pushing against him. It was weak and thready and had the same despondent overtones the rest of her did. With the next push he surged his ki a bit stronger.

_"That's right, Tomboy. Don't just stand there and take it. Push me back. Make me work for it."_

He kept up his assault, forcing her to rise to meet him. To the casual observer, they were engaged in a stately, gentle dance, pushing back and forth against one another as they flowed in unison. Beneath the surface, a battle was going on as Ranma pressed her again and again to force her to rise to the challenge or falter beneath it. She rose and pushed back, as he'd known she would. They came to the end of the sequence and stepped back from one another. She seemed calm and centered again--the hopeless edge was gone from her aura… but he wanted to bring her fire back.

_"You won't just dodge, or run away and make fun of me?"_

Ranma had very strong views about hitting girls pounded into his head…but he'd seen Konatsu, who was actually a boy no matter how he usually dressed, quite happily pound on her across most of the dojo for a good thirty minutes, and no one had made a fuss about it. In fact, Akane had seemed downright pleased when Konatsu more or less asked her to get stronger so he could pound on her some more.

From what he'd heard about her fight with Ukyo, the two of them had whaled on one another while screaming at each other for most of the lunch period. They were both girls, which made a difference, he supposed.

Akane had complained about the pervs at school--but there were so many of them versus just her, every day for weeks, most of them padded up and carrying weapons--baseball bats, hockey sticks, wooden and bamboo swords, you name it. It wasn't fighting them that bothered her, it was the idea that they'd treat her like a girl--well, a sex object really, not a warrior, if she were ever defeated in battle.

The thing was…he didn't want to hit her. He didn't want to hurt her.

_"Though I suppose I can just tap or jab at any openings she leaves… It's not like I really have to punch her to participate, right?"_

The whole thing left him distinctly uneasy, and yet according to his mother it had been a source of contention in the future-that-was. They were getting along. She smiled at him regularly, always seemed happy to see him, happy to spend time with him. He didn't want to ruin that.

_"Can I do it though? Can I do it and not feel like a fiancée-abusing monster? Only one way to tell, I guess."_

Akane had begun to look increasingly perplexed as he just stood there, staring at her. He aimed a punch at her, well-telegraphed and slow. Akane's eyes narrowed and she deflected it while twisting her lips contemptuously.

"What the hell was that? Chiyo-sensei could have dodged that and she's eighty-four, has arthritis, and is _not_ a martial artist." she growled as she snapped out a return punch that was a whole lot faster, barely telegraphed, that might have actually connected if he were less well trained than he was. His own deflect was a bit harsher than he'd intended, but then Akane wasn't playing around, as her follow-up combination proved. He struck back and Akane blocked, her eyes widening when the blow landed. He was about to back off and apologize, but that's when it happened. Her fire was back, and _goddamn_ was it glorious.

An inferno seemed to ignite deep inside her, illuminating her whole being from within. Her eyes blazed, her cheeks flushed a delicate pink, her chest heaved a bit as she sucked in air. Then she licked her lips, preparing to attack.

**_"Akane! Ranma! It's almost dinner! You have just enough time for your baths!"_ **

The two teens froze. Akane moved out of her stance, closed her eyes and ran her hands agitatedly through her hair before calling back

**_"Okay! We'll be right there!"_ **

Ranma bit back the disgruntled curse he wanted to let out. He didn't think he'd ever been so unhappy to have a fight interrupted in his life. The charged atmosphere was now growing awkward. Akane gestured vaguely towards the house.

"I'm just gonna…"

"Yeah. I'll be along in a bit."

 

 

"I hope the stupid hentai horde has gotten the message at last." Ukyo grumbled as the three of them ran towards school the next day.

"I'm sure they have. More than likely only Kuno will still be waiting."

"That guy really doesn't know how to take a hint." Ukyo agreed.

The three of them slowed their headlong rush as they entered the school grounds. Kuno was there as expected, but he was tied up in chains at the feet of a young Chinese man in long white robes. He stood stoically above his fallen enemy, hands in his sleeves, eyes closed. He looked for all the world like he was meditating on the follies of the universe.

He didn't seem to notice, but his entrance had garnered a lot of attention. There were several clusters of girls gathered around unobtrusively watching him and giggling.

"Mousse! How's it going, sugar?" Ukyo waved.

The boys gathered around who had decided to turn their attentions to the new girl when it was obvious Akane was no longer up for grabs, all slumped dejectedly and glared at the back of Mousse's head, and the girls sighed and started heading inside.

"Kuno giving you problems?" Ranma wondered.

"He approached me when I arrived and asked my business. When I told him I was waiting to speak to Akane Tendo, he declared that he would not allow it and attacked me."

"Sounds plausible." Akane sighed. "I really am starting to worry about him spending so much time unconscious though."

Kuno awoke from his stupor and tried to leap on Akane. "MY LOVE!" She punched him and he fell back down unconscious.

"Still worried?" Ranma wondered, glaring at the fallen man sourly.

"Yes, sadly. He just never learns."

Mousse unwrapped Kuno and pulled the chains back inside his sleeves.

"So, you wanted to see me?"

"Yes. I hesitate to ask but…"

"You need a place to stay?"

"I've got a place with the circus, which will be in town for the next week. Once I've received my earnings, I will hopefully be able to find other work…"

"You've got waiter experience, right? I have to leave early most days because Konatsu can't run the grill and wait tables when it gets really busy. When you're done with the circus, come see me. You and Ko-chan can probably run the place without me a few days a week, through lunch anyway. I'll get more business if I don't have to keep the place closed on days I have tests and stuff."Ukyo interjected.

"That would be acceptable."

"And you are of course welcome to stay with us. We're a bit crowded, but there's space in Ranma's room."

"Oi."

"Would you rather he stayed with me?" Akane asked curiously.

"Glad to have you, buddy." Ranma said with false cheer.

Mousse glowered at him.

"Knock it off. Ranma's not engaged to Shampoo. There's no actual reason for you two to fight anymore." Ukyo sighed.

"Yeah, and we've all managed to be friends when all our entanglements weren't in the way. Let's try to get along." Akane agreed.

Mousse sighed. "You are correct. I will try to keep that in mind." He looked at the three of them questioningly. "What of your own entanglements? Have you come to some sort of arrangement? I should have known you'd be so greedy…"

"Get your mind out of the gutter, duck boy. Ranchan and I are siblings now. I've been adopted into the Saotome clan."Ukyo grumbled.

Mousse's face went slack with shock, and then started to fill with pity. Ukyo put an end to that by whacking him with her giant spatula.

"None of that, sugar. It's okay." She smiled a bit wistfully at Ranma before facing Mousse again. "It seems I wanted my friends back more than I wanted a fiancé I had to share. I'm…surprisingly okay with how things have turned out."

"If that's true, then I am happy for you."

"We're good, sugar."

"I should probably be getting back to the circus." Mousse sighed.

"Alright. We'll see you in a week…sooner if Ryoga shows up." Akane offered.

"And we'll keep him away from Shampoo if she shows up." Ukyo added.

"Thank you." Mousse said with relief. "Things will be harder to resolve if she gets to him first."

"I'd like to see everyone get their happy ending. Ryoga had a girlfriend named Akari before all this started. I'm not going to let your stupid laws ruin that for them." Akane warned.

"I'm surprised you're so concerned for his welfare. I had heard you beat him unconscious and left him in a crater shortly before all this happened."Mousse said curiously.

"He wasn't the only one." Ukyo muttered quietly.

"What the hell did he do?" Ranma wondered.

"Pretended to be my pet pig. It's a long story. I forgave him."

"I don't know that I would have done so." Mousse scoffed.

"I've forgiven worse."Akane said pointedly.

"Like what?"

"Well…you kidnapped me and tried to curse me to turn into a duck."

"You WHAT?!"  Ranma demanded.

"Ah. Yes. Sorry about that." Mousse said sheepishly.

"Bygones. I'd best not hear about you pulling such a trick again though."

"I won't. It didn't do any good anyway. That reminds me though. I brought that catalogue you asked for, as well as a small gift to thank you for your hospitality."

He pulled a small bundle from his sleeve and handed it to Akane, who made it vanish into her own sleeve. Mousse raised an eyebrow in surprise and then nodded to her. Akane nodded back.

"We'd better go. The late bell will be ringing soon." Akane sighed.

The four teens said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.  They were nearly to the school building when Akane smirked at Ukyo.

"So… Ko-chan?"

Ukyo blushed. "We're friends. It doesn't mean anything!"

"Uh huh…"

"Stop it, you're embarrassing me!" Ukyo screeched, swinging out with her spatula.

Akane ducked and ran ahead, laughing. Ranma, who'd been standing on her other side, got clanged in the head.

"GEEZ! I didn't even say anything!"

 

 

"Um, hello?"

"I'm sorry. The shrine is closed now." the pretty brown haired shrine maiden replied to Ranma's hesitant greeting. The black haired girl with her looked up and her eyes widened.

"Don't be so hasty, Haruka." she purred, before sauntering over and rubbing Ranma's arm lightly. "I can give you a private tour if you like."

"Uh…"

"Honestly, Midori." Haruka sighed, taking pity on the boy, who looked ready to bolt.

"I'm actually looking for someone."

"Ask and you shall receive." Midori cooed, batting her eyes.

Ranma tried to back away from her, but she just stayed with him, looking predatory.

"Who are you looking for? Really, Midori, knock it off." Haruka growled, embarrassed by her behavior.

"Akane Tendo."

"Oh, are you Akane's fiancé?"

"Yeah. That's me." Ranma said with some relief.

Midori frowned and backed off just a hair. "Hmph. Akane's been holding out on us. She didn't mention you were such a hunk."

"Psh. She didn't tell _you._ She told the rest of us." Haruka muttered.

Ranma's cheeks flushed, and he preened just a little. Midori leaned back in and batted her eyes. "Engaged isn't married. If you and Akane don't work out I'll…"

"You'll **what,** _Midori-chan?_ "

Midori stiffened and glanced over to see Akane had arrived unnoticed and now seemed to be faintly glowing with menace. Midori smiled stiffly and backed away from Ranma slowly.

"Heh, heh. Why, do everything I could to get you two crazy kids back together, of course. You make such a cute couple."

Haruka sighed and grabbed Midori's arm and began hauling her away. "Nice to meet you, Ranma. Goodnight Akane."

"Goodnight, Haruka." Akane replied sweetly. Her eyes narrowed and she cracked her knuckles. " **G'night, Mi-do-ri.** "

"Can't blame a girl for trying." Midori shrugged, sticking her tongue out at Akane. "Bye Ranmaaaa!" she cooed, waggling her fingers at him.

"Honestly!" Akane muttered when they were out of sight.

"Um, hey, Akane."

"Hello, Ranma."

"I didn't do nothin', she just…"

"I know. I saw the whole thing."

"Oh. I see. You're jealous."

"I am not!"

"I guess it's only natural, seeing I'm such a hunk and all…"

"Good lord. If your ego gets any bigger you won't be able to leave the house." Akane muttered, rolling her eyes.

Knowing pursuing that particular conversation would likely end up leading to a fight--it always had in the past--she changed the subject.

"Chiyo-sensei is still here. I wanted you to meet her."

"Okay. Why? You weren't serious about me being a shrine maiden, right?"

"No. Unless you really want to be one, that is. I don't know how to test people for spiritual power, so I don't even know if the training would do you any good."

"Oh. Why then?"

"Your curse. I wanted to see if she could discover anything more than you already know. I wanted her to take a look at your hair too."

"My hair? Oh wait…are you talking about the dragon whisker stuff?"

"Yeah. With the amount of fights you get into, it's honestly a miracle that the whisker never got pulled off or lost. If it ever did, you'd either have to stay a girl until you found another whisker, or you'd risk losing all your hair for good. I was hoping there was a way to drain off the excess magic or something, otherwise it's going to be a year or so until it wears off on its own, and people are going to come looking for the whisker in the meantime. If there's a way to speed the process along…"

"You think there is?"

"I have no idea. I'm really not far enough into my studies to even guess. I also told her about the cat-fist. I hope you don't mind."

"You did? Why?"

"I just wondered if there was more to the cat-fist than deep psychological trauma. You become super agile, practically immune to damage and you develop chi-claws that let you shred things from a distance."

"And…you're afraid I'm going to go on a rampage and…"

"No. I know how much it bothers you--the loss of control, the loss of memory. I've seen you in cat-mode a few times. You shred up things that annoy you--Kuno's bokken, Cologne's water shark--"

"Water shark?"

"--but you've never shredded up any people, or even tried to. You're…playful, when you're like that. Affectionate, even. I know how honorable you are, and how great your self-control. You have a tremendous capacity for forgiveness. You're usually the most easy-going guy one could ask for. If you ever did hurt anyone while in cat-mode, it would only be because they had driven you beyond the point of human endurance. I've no doubt about that whatsoever." she said fiercely, looking him in the eye.

Her certainty seemed to loosen a knot in him he hadn't been aware was there.

" I do worry though, that if it ever came to such a point, that you would never forgive yourself, even if they left you no other choice." she added sadly, then glared at him as though to scold him for being an idiot. His lips quirked in amusement in spite of himself.

"Truthfully, the idea that you'd massacre anyone honestly never crossed my mind. My worry is that some ruthless enemy will use your loss of memory to convince you you've done something terrible to destroy you. It's a powerful technique, but you have to be driven to the point of losing yourself in fear to access it. I guess I was hoping she'd be able to see something that would point the way towards accessing it consciously, or barring that, a way to safely get you over your fear."

"Do you think this will really help?"

"Like I said, I've really no idea. Having a priest or priestess examine you isn't an avenue that's been explored before. Even if it doesn't work, well, we'll still know more than we did before, right?"

"I guess it can't hurt."

 

 

"We're closed!"

"It's us, Ucchan."

"We brought dinner."

Ukyo hurried to the door, and was surprised to find Akane, Ranma and Mousse standing outside.

"Look who's back in town." Akane gestured to Mousse."Hope you don't mind us just dropping in like this."

"Not at all, come on in. Smells great, whatever you've got." Ukyo said cheerfully.

"We've got a little bit of everything."Ranma told her.

"We thought it might be nice for you two to have something you didn't have to cook." Mousse added.

"It is, actually. Well, come on. We were just gonna have our usual rice and leftovers, but this will be much nicer. Hey, Konatsu! Come up when you're done, sugar, we've got company!"

"I'll be right there, Ukyo-san!"

Ukyo led the three of them up to her small apartment.

"Ukyo-san?"

"I've been working on him to be less formal. I tried to get him to just call me Ucchan, but he nearly died. It took him a week to start using san without apologizing for being so bold."

"Good. Hopefully he'll chill for the rest of us too. While 'Lord Ranma' does have a nice ring to it, all the excessive formality makes my teeth ache."

"It's still a work in progress. What's with you, sugar?" she asked Akane, who was glancing around curiously as she unpacked her share of the food.

"Just thinking how roomy this place is when it doesn't have my whole family and you living in it."

"What's this?"

"Why were you all living here?" Ranma and Mousse wondered.

Ukyo snickered, remembering. "That would be because you suck at poker, sugar."

"You lost the dojo to the Gambling King when you were six. He came to collect, threw us out and we all had to live here while he turned it into a gambling den for children. Even with all the training we gave you so you could challenge him and win it back, it was a near thing. You're terrible. If he wasn't just as bad, we might have had to live here permanently… though I'm not even sure why we left. I mean, that can't have been legal, right? You were only six, and you don't actually own the dojo yet, so it wasn't yours to give away in the first place." Akane mused.

"Well, Saotomes and girls' dowries…" Ukyo sighed.

"That was pops."

"Uh-uh, sug, that one was all you. Never gamble. You really are terrible."Ukyo snickered.

"Don't tell him that. I usually cleaned up pretty well at the Christmas party poker games." Mousse complained.

It was a sad commentary on Akane's former life that the realization that the Amazons had missed something as big as all of them getting kicked out of their house for a week meant that all the crazies they'd attracted had probably not just been hiding in the bushes and spying on them 24-7 as it sometimes seemed, was a tremendous relief.

Konatsu came in a few minutes later and looked at the heavily laden table and the overflowing plate at his spot with reverence.

"So much food…" she looked around at all of them gathered at the table and grew misty-eyed. "And good friends to share it with." She suddenly had a microphone, and the air around her was filled with sparkles.

_"Friendship is beautiful. It warms your heart when the night is cold, and fills the empty spaces in your soul! FRIENDSHIP….!"_

As she sang, Ukyo sighed, Mousse and Ranma looked bewildered and just a bit weirded out. Akane clasped her hands beneath her chin and her eyes got shiny. When she finished her impromptu ode to friendship, Akane leapt at her and threw her arms around her neck.

"Konatsu-chan!"

"Akane-sama!"

"Let's always be good friends!"

"I'm so honored!"

Mousse suddenly started trembling and leapt at Konatsu and Akane, and turned it into a three-way tearfest.

"Such sincere emotion! I cannot help but be moved. Let us be friends as well, Konatsu-san, Akane-san!"

"Mousse-kun!"

"Mousse-sama!" the other two replied, hugging him back.

"Uh…" Ranma pointed at the two, now three, tearfully embracing and looked to Ukyo to explain what the hell was going on.

"Ko-chan…he's an emotional guy, alright? Trust me, this is pretty low-key. When he first left his awful family he was breaking out the mike several times a day."

"Such weird friends…" Ranma muttered quietly.

Ukyo just laughed. "Yeah, I guess we are."

After everyone had calmed down, and eaten their fill, they caught each other up on one another's lives. Mousse told a few funny anecdotes about the circus. Ukyo and Konatsu added neighborhood gossip picked up from the restaurant including the shocking news that Kasumi and Dr. Tofu went out on a date the previous Saturday and he'd stayed mostly coherent and sane.

"They did? I don't believe her!"

"It's always the quiet ones, huh." Ukyo nodded.

"She never said a word! I mean, I didn't expect or require a thank you, but she could have at least let us know it worked!"

"Uh…what did you two do?"Mousse wondered.

When they explained, Mousse and Konatsu just nodded, while Ukyo snorted.

"Geez. Only you two would think a dumb play with stupid props constituted a 'simple plan'."

"What would you have done instead?"  Ranma wondered.

"Whacked him with my battle spatula and told him to man up already!"

"It's certainly straightforward…"Akane noted.

"Whatever. It worked." Ranma shrugged.

"Yeah. I'm gonna have words with Kasumi though."

While Akane fumed, it was Ranma's turn to share.

"Training at the shrine, huh? They really think they can fix your hair thing?" Ukyo asked curiously.

"The chi-master they brought in seemed to think it was at least possible. He's not available all the time, so I'll have to train with him when he's available. They're still researching my curse. I'm supposed to go there next weekend for them to try to do something about the cat fist. Some kind of spirit walk or something."

"Wow. Sounds like you're going to be busy."

"Yeah. I just hope it doesn't take another ten years to undo all the crap pop stuck me with in the name of training."

"You know, Mousse, you should go to the shrine and let them take a look at you. Maybe by comparing your curses they'll be able to learn more." Akane noted.

"That's true, isn't it? I'll try to stop by sometime soon. If it leads to even the possibility of a cure, I'm all for it."

"So, Akane, anything new with you?" Ukyo asked.

"Not much. School, training with dad. I was considering signing up for dancing lessons. I saw an ad in the paper. It sounded like fun."

"Yeah? What kind?" Ukyo wondered.

"Ballroom."

"Just as long as you don't try and drag me along." Ranma muttered.

Akane looked disappointed, but not surprised. She looked at Mousse speculatively. "Would you be interested? If you're not, I guess I'll just have to partner with one of the other students…"

Ranma frowned around the pork bun he was chomping. Mousse looked contemplative.

"Why would you ask me?"

"Well…you're trying to win Shampoo's heart as well as her hand, right? I was just thinking about how eager she always was to go out on dates all the time. Even if you win her in battle by proxy--beating the man that beat her--you can't really think that'll be enough, right? She's a proud, strong warrior…but she's also a _girl._ She wants to be romanced. Dancing well will certainly help you there."

Ranma's frown grew more pronounced.

"Yeah, sugar. No zombie museums this time." Ukyo nodded.

At Mousse's questioning look, the two girls frowned at him.

"She told us about that. No zombies." Akane said firmly.

"Zombies are not romantic." Ukyo agreed.

"Your suggestion has some merit. Very well. I shall join you for dancing lessons."

"Wonderful! Oh, we'll have so much fun!"Akane said cheerfully.  

"Sorry to cut the evening short, everyone, but we still have to open the restaurant tomorrow, even if there's no school."

"It's no problem. We all should be getting home anyway." Akane nodded.

"This was fun though. We should make this a recurring thing." Ukyo mused.

"We really should. It doesn't have to be dinner in either. We could take in a movie or do karaoke or something."

"Yeah. Ko-chan and I really don't get out enough…" Ukyo agreed.

"Aw geez, it's raining."Ranma said with disgust.

"At least it's just coming down lightly."Konatsu noted.

Ranma hesitated a moment in the doorway and then hurried out into the rain and turned his face up to it. He looked down at his still male hands and hooted in glee.

"WHOO! I'm gonna run in it! See you suckers later!"

"H-how?" Konatsu said in shock.

"Ranchan didn't change!" Ukyo echoed.

"Remember the catalogue and guest gift Mousse brought? I asked him to get me a Jusenkyo Springs product catalogue. He did so, and brought me a box of instant nannichuan water and a three pack of waterproof soap." Akane explained.

"I got some for myself as well. None of it lasts for very long, so I've tried to use it sparingly." Mousse agreed.

"I just gave the stuff to Ranma earlier. I wanted Chiyo-sensei and everyone at the temple to examine him without any extra magic on him first. He took a bath with waterproof soap earlier since the weather man said it might be raining later."

Mousse stepped out and withdrew a large umbrella from inside his robes, holding it so there was room for Akane to join him under it.

"I'm waterproof at the moment, but the stuff does wash off eventually. I'd prefer not to tempt fate, myself."

"Well, see you both later. Goodnight." Konatsu waved.

"Goodnight. Mousse, sugar, we'll see you bright and early tomorrow."

"I'll be here."

"Goodnight."

 

 

"Shampoo!" Mousse suddenly said with excitement. Akane could sense her as well. She seemed to be watching them from a nearby rooftop. Akane looped her arm through his to keep him from running off and tackling the object of his affections.

"Steady there, boyo. Remember, until you've defeated Ryoga, she's taken. Let her sweat for a bit." she said quietly.

"I will never betray my beloved!" Mousse hissed back.

"I wasn't suggesting you should. I'm certainly not planning on taking up an affair. All I'm saying is…looking back, I think part of what kept her so fixated on Ranma was that he was always out of reach. It became a matter of pride for her to conquer him and bring him to her side. You she was able to take for granted, because you were always there, always available. Look, you need to rethink your approach a bit this time around. Be friendly, but not slavish. Talk to her, don't flatter her. Let her think for a bit that you're just here, living with friends, have a new job and are thinking of making a new life for yourself, away from her and the village. Give her a chance to feel worried and wonder what life will be like without your constant devotion. Remember what I was saying earlier about romancing her? You can do it subtly starting now, but you cannot act towards her as you usually did. You're going to have to hold yourself back until your battle with Ryoga is concluded and you're victorious."

"What exactly did you have in mind?" Mousse asked warily.

"She doesn't know anyone else in town, which means she'll likely end up at the dojo for at least a few days until she can find work. Give her space. Talk to everyone, don't just hang on her every word. Don't attack Ranma if he's rude to her. Rebuke him if you must, but make sure you do it for anyone he's rude to. It should throw her off-balance a bit. Don't mention that your sole reason for being here is her. Let her wonder. If we have another of these friend nights, we can invite her along--just one of the gang, not a date, just some pals having fun. Let her see you in a new light."

"But I want her to know the depths of my…"

**"Kuno."**

"I beg your pardon?"

"Kuno. Idiot swordsman? Ring a bell? You know, when I first started school and heard that he liked me I was actually kind of flattered."

"You were?" Mousse said doubtfully.

"Sure. Older guy, kind of handsome, rich, captain of the kendo team. If he had behaved like a normal guy, and just approached and asked me on a date, treated me well and kept his hands to himself, I would have said yes. He didn't do that though. He decided he loved me and began following me around constantly, pestering me, glomping on to me, challenging me to battles every morning--him and a whole horde of brain dead losers who wouldn't take no for an answer. Maybe you think that approach shows her the depths of your devotion…but in truth, it's just kind of annoying. If you were already an established couple and knew she loved you back, it would be different. You want the one you love to be so happy to see you all the time… but if you're not even a couple yet, it's really kind of off-putting. Please listen to me on this. Stiffen up your pride and self-respect, and keep your distance and your cool for a bit. If she has any feelings for you at all, they'll start to come to the fore. Don't despair if it doesn't happen right away. Give it at least a week or two. If Kuno suddenly stopped bothering me, I'd be relieved. I don't have any feelings for him, so I'd continue to be relieved as the weeks went on. If I did though, his sudden turn around would probably throw me for a loop…and after my initial relief, I might start wondering why he changed and start chasing him for a bit."

Mousse smiled rather giddily.

"However, if he immediately turned around and started doing the exact things that turned me off the first time, I'd probably walk away again." she cautioned.

"You make it sound like I can never show her my love! I don't know how it works with you and Saotome, but some of us are not looking for an eternally platonic relationship." Mousse said sourly.

"I'm saying learn to read the mood better and only be so exuberant when she's receptive to it! Geez."

"I will take your words under advisement."

The Tendo Dojo was nearly in view, so Akane halted them for a moment, and turned to look at Mousse, her face serious.

"Mousse…will you promise me something?"

"If it's in my power and not too objectionable."

"If it should turn out that Shampoo's feelings for you aren't what you hoped…"

"They are"

"For your sake, I hope that's true. But, if it should turn out that she feels only deep friendship or something…promise me you'll let go, let yourself heal from the heartbreak and find someone else."

"I…"

"Under the obsessive love and the things it leads you to…you're a nice guy. You're good looking, you're smart, you're a strong martial artist, you're very talented. Promise me that you won't waste your life on a woman that doesn't love you back. You deserve better than that."

Mousse smiled confidently. "I promise. I'm not worried."

"Looks like the rain is picking up."

"It is. We should get going."

As they got closer, they could hear Genma and Ranma apparently fighting in the yard.

**"HA! Stupid panda! Oh, and look…I'm still a guy! Take that! HA!"**

"Just another quiet evening at the Tendo dojo." Akane sighed ruefully.

"You did tell him it wears off easily, correct?"

"Of course I did. His dad probably didn't give him much choice in the matter. He probably told him a good son would give his father whatever miracle he'd found."

Akane's call of 'we're home' barely seemed to register to the occupants inside; they were all busy watching the drama in the garden.

"I feel so loved." Akane noted dryly.

"Why don't you head in to the bath. I'll send Ranma in once he's done."

"Why don't you go ahead?"

"I'm going to grab some towels, tea and food and wait for Shampoo."

Mousse hesitated. He obviously wanted to stay and greet her as well, but he complied with a sigh and a nod of his head.

"Very well."

Akane was as good as her word. She found some rice balls in the fridge, grabbed a cup of tea and a cup of hot water and several towels.

"Ranma, honestly." she scolded once she'd set everything down.

Ranma landed lightly on the engawa and squatted beside her.

"He started it." he replied easily, grinning as his sodden panda father laboriously climbed out of the koi pond. He held out his arm and grinned at her.

"Look. Still a guy."

Akane unfolded a towel and dropped it on his head.

"I'm happy for you. Now go take a bath before you end up getting sick, dummy."

"Ooh, food. I am still kinda…" Akane lightly smacked his hand. "It's not for you."

She tossed the cup of hot water she'd brought along into Genma's face and tossed him a towel as well when he tried to grab it.

"Not you either. It's for her."

The two men turned to look at the pretty but sodden Chinese girl that had just landed on the wall. She spotted Akane and waved tiredly.

"Nihao, sister."

"Nihao. [ _Come. I have food and drink for you. We take hot bath when silly husband and father in law is being done.]"_

Shampoo brightened considerably, and bounced across the garden and pond to land with barely a thump beside the rest of them. She threw her arms around Akane in greeting.

"[Aiyaah! You are a very good sister!]" she said with some feeling, taking the offered towel gratefully. "[It was a very long trip. I thought I was going to drown in all the stupid rain that followed me from China. Is my husband here?" she asked somewhat indifferently.

"[We is keeping an eye out but no is seeing him yet.]" Akane replied, shooing Genma and Ranma towards the bathroom.

Shampoo devoured the food left for her, sat back with a sigh and patted her tummy contentedly.

"[Ah. That was good. I was starving. I came a very long way to find that husband of mine. Who gets lost between the sky and earth? Is he cursed or just very stupid?]"

She sipped at her tea and seemed to regain her more usual bubbly personality.

"[You have a very nice house.]"

"[Is good.]" Akane agreed. She mentally took back every derisive thing she'd ever thought about Shampoo's broken Japanese. She sounded like a toddler! 

"[Oh! I almost forgot! My great-grandmother sent a letter along for you.]" 

Akane took the envelope Shampoo dug out of her pack, and found a letter and a wad of money inside.

_Greetings fellow warrior sister,_

_My great-granddaughter tells me she has been offered lodging while in your country searching for her idiot groom. Please accept this as thanks for your generosity in looking after her while on her hunt. She is dear to me, and it relieves my mind to know she will have friends and allies on hand while she searches._

_Ko Lon Matriarch, Amazon tribe._

Akane flipped through the money and counted it in her head. It was far too much just for house room.

 _"[You have money for stuffs while live here?]_ "

"[I'll find a job. It won't be a problem.]"

Akane gave half of the money back to Shampoo.

"[Grandmother send money. Is too too much. You take. Have money for stuffs while here.]"

[ _Ha! I told great-grandmother you were a nice person, and that I was a good judge of character. She thought you'd be greedy, and keep all of it.]"_

 _"[Well, you can tell grandmother…. No, cannot say that. One should respect elders.]_ "

Shampoo threw back her head and laughed.


	7. Dance mania

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shampoo settles in to the dojo, Akane does some soul searching and takes dancing lessons with Mousse. Ranma has a stupid mouth.

Akane sighed and toweled off as her father exited in search of a hot bath and breakfast.

"You is not bad…but you no as good as you should be." Shampoo noted from her place on the sidelines.

"My father stopped training me years ago. I tapped spirit energy not ki, which he can't sense. He thought I'd reached my limits--and truthfully, he lost interest in most everything around him for a long time after my mother died. I continued training on my own without guidance, but as you can see, some problems crept in that he's now trying to correct. I was still the strongest fighter my age in these parts for a long time. My only real challenges were the stupid boys trying to win me in combat I had to fight for months at school, and the only reason they were a challenge is because there were so many of them and they wouldn't take no for an answer." Akane defended herself.

"Not all of us have a whole tribe of strong warriors to train with, or a matriarch grandmother to guide us. Considering the circumstances, I don't think I've done too badly, really."

"Ah. Yes, that make big difference. Shampoo train with you while here. No be letting sister embarrass us."

"I'll try to take that in the spirit it was given."

Shampoo hopped to her feet and bounced to the middle of the dojo. "We fight now, yes?"

Akane tossed her towel aside and shook herself loose.

"Sure. Bring it on."

Akane was certain she was in for a world of hurt. She knew all too well that Shampoo was good; she was good enough that Ranma, who didn't like fighting girls, actually defended himself when she went after him seriously. It seemed, however, that friendly Shampoo didn't see maiming her as conducive to a good training session. She pushed her, certainly. Her blows, when they landed, had the punch of a mule kick. She kept herself in check though--Akane was under no illusions that she was a match for her if she went all-out. She kept herself to just above what she could deal with, and slowly increased her speed and power, forcing her to meet her in turn. Even with that, she knew she was likely going to be littered with bruises for a little while at least, and Akane was loving every minute of it.

_"I don't think I really comprehended how much I wanted not just Ranma's respect, but that of the crazy warrior girls he seems to draw from all corners. I was once the strongest, and I took pride in that, even with Nabiki's mockery and Kasumi's despair of me ever being a 'proper girl'. Somewhere along the line I gave up. I tried to rework myself in Kasumi's image--sort of. I never could master her zen unflappability--too temperamental."_ Akane thougt to herself with wry self-deprecation. _"I ended up being the eternal damsel in distress, just sitting around, waiting for rescue, letting my life spiral out of my control. It wasn't all bad--- goodness knows, Ranma charging in all heroic and carrying me off in his strong arms is a teen girl's fantasy come true… but however much I liked that part, I realize now… I resented it too. Not the rescue, not his determination to save me…but that he needed to so often, that he got hurt doing it so often. While I don't doubt he relished the role of fantasy hero… I don't want to be faux action girl. I want to be able to do more than throw the occasional kettle of hot water from the sidelines. Even if I can't make it all the way to the final boss, I want to be at his side for the rest. I think I need this… for me._ "

Akane's thoughts coalesced as a number of things that had been rattling around in her heart and mind became clear.

_"As much as I loved him… I was slowly losing myself in the process. I need to accept once and for all that I **am** the macho jock chick, the uncute tomboy, the anti-pervert warrior, the girl who kept fighting each morning, even though far too many people told her she should just surrender to Kuno and get on with it already. Maybe I'm just too prideful… but this is who I am. I'm tired of twisting myself into knots, tired of letting parts of me I take pride in fall to the wayside, tired of being a leaf blown on the wind. I'm not a prize to be won, or a toy to be fought over, or a thing to be rescued so some guy can feel better about himself. I 'll never be someone that Kasumi approves of… maybe I'll never be someone that society at large approves of… or that Ranma does. He made it clear how he felt about 'macho jock chicks' enough times. He wanted a Kasumi and he got me instead, poor guy. I know he loved me… but I may need to accept that he didn't love me the way I loved him. I was his buddy sometimes… I was the girl he was obligated to play hero for--- he did the same for Nabiki when he was engaged to her. I was just the fiancée he was most comfortable with--mostly because I didn't rent him out, try to mind control him, drug him or trick him. We're off to a better start this time around, but that just means we'll be better friends. It doesn't mean it will change the rest of it. I guess I just have to accept it if it comes to that.  I can't live my whole life trying to be someone else to make him happy, even if it meant he might one day not just love me, but be in love with me. I can't be anyone but who I am. It will have to be enough."_

"Is better! Akane not think so much, body knows what to do! Is good. You keep do that." Shampoo said cheerfully.

_"Huh. Looks like Ranma knows what he's talking about. He always told me 'don't think, just do'…of course he always prefaced it with a crack about 'dumb macho chicks'… probably explains why I didn't listen to him."_

Shampoo eventually called a halt when she saw Akane had as much as she could take for the day.

"You did well. We fight every every day and soon sister not embarrassment at all."

"Looking forward to it."

The girls wandered towards the house. Shampoo followed Akane's gaze and saw her watching Ranma, Mousse and another boy.

"What you look at?"

"Just appreciating the view." Akane replied.

"Is good view." Shampoo agreed with a giggle. "You husband look pretty good. Why he no sleep in same room though?"

"Ah, we're not actually married yet. We're betrothed though. I didn't know the right word. We will marry, so it seemed close enough."

"Oh so. Shampoo wonder. He look too good to waste."

"Yes he does." Akane admitted to herself. _"Was I really that deep in denial last time that I really just couldn't let myself appreciate what a fine specimen I was landed with? Of course, considering how our relationship developed, it's probably just as well-- everything just would have hurt that much more, I'm sure."_

Out loud she said: "[He does. His name mean 'wild horse'… but I think that horse not ready for riding yet.]"

Shampoo snorted and then started giggling uproariously. Across the yard, Mousse choked and looked at the two girls with wide eyes. When his gaze met Shampoo's, which was teary with mirth, he started snickering.

Ranma looked at Akane's slightly red face and the two cackling Amazons and then eyed his fiancée suspiciously. Akane looked at him from under her eyelashes and smiled rather sheepishly.

Ranma's face went red and he turned around to avoid her scrutiny, muttering 'she better not be joking about no riding crops again'. Mousse clutched his stomach and fell over, still laughing.

"[What did he say?]" Shampoo demanded.

"[R-Riding crop!]" Mousse gasped.

Shampoo's eyes widened and she grinned mischievously at Akane.

"[I think he'll already be wild ride when he's ready. You probably won't need to spank him much.]"

Akane's face was now as red as Ranma's was, which just made the Amazons laugh harder.

 

 

"Geez. The place looks almost empty tonight. I know daddy and uncle are off drinking. Where's the Chinese invasion?" Nabiki asked sourly as she settled herself at the table. It was bad enough when daddy had brought his buddy the freeloader and his wife and son to live with them, but then Akane just had to add in more of her weird martial artist friends. Oh well…the Chinese had at least both given Kasumi a wad of cash up front to help offset the cost of their stay.

"Mousse and Shampoo are both still at work, I believe." Nodoka answered as she and Kasumi carried in dinner.

"More for the rest of us." Ranma answered cheerfully. "I'm starving. That master Ichiro doesn't mess around."

"He's the chi master Akane-chan's shrine found for you to deal with your…hair difficulties.?" Kasumi asked.

"Yeah, that's him. I blasted a rock apart with my chi earlier. It was great." he enthused.

He glanced towards the stairs when he heard the sound of someone coming down and was rewarded with the sight of Akane coming to join them.

"You gonna eat that or just look at it?" Nabiki joked when he froze with a piece of pork halfway to his mouth.

Ranma tore his gaze away and focused on his food, sweating just a bit as a faint wash of flowery perfume wafted around him as Akane settled into her place.

"Got a hot date later?" Nabiki asked.

"No. Mousse and I are taking dancing lessons is all. The first one is tonight."Akane replied .

Ranma aimed a casual glance her way, eyes flitting over her to take in the whole picture a bit better. He tore his gaze away a second time and frowned into his rice bowl. Akane's long hair was swept up, but for a few small curls framing her face. Her dress was modest and tasteful, but it was just a tad more revealing than she usually went for. There was a hint of cleavage at the neckline, her shoulders and upper back were bare. The tight bodice and cinched in waist gave her athletic figure a more hourglass shape than was usually the case, and the calf-length full skirt seemed to float around her when she moved. She wore a faint hint of makeup, which made her already large eyes seem larger still and drew attention to her lips.

Ranma realized he was staring again and tore his gaze away once more and stabbed at his food perhaps harder than was entirely warranted. Nabiki watched Ranma's quiet spaz-attack and looked at her little sister again.

_"I'd think she was doing it on purpose to torture him…but she really seems completely unaware of the effect she's having. I know her, and she's not that good an actor; everything she's thinking and feeling is always right there on her face for anyone to see."_

Akane busied herself eating, checking the time now and then.

"Thanks for the meal. It was wonderful as always. I should get going. Wish me luck!"

"Good luck, dear." Nodoka answered her with a smile.

Ranma grunted something incomprehensible. Akane glanced at him, but that was all.

Nabiki watched Ranma fidget for an agonizing thirty seconds after the sound of the door closing. He hurriedly devoured what was left of his dinner, mumbled something about 'just remembering something he had to do', before he was off like a shot, bounding over the rooftops.

"Does he really think he's fooling anyone?" Nabiki said in disgust.

"It's sometimes best to leave men with their delusions." Nodoka giggled.

 

 

"Nihao, Ran---!" Shampoo glared at the boy when he covered her mouth and looked panicked. He manhandled her, mouth still covered, to the edge of the roof they were both on and peered over nervously, before sighing in relief--until he saw how Shampoo was glaring at him.

"Uh, hi, Shampoo." he said nervously.

Shampoo glared at him a moment longer and then peeked over the roof herself.

"Why you is following sister in secret?"

"W-who Akane? I'm not following her. I'm doing something completely unrelated in the same direction."

He glared back at her when she simply smacked him in the head.

"Shampoo not stupid. Why you follow?"

"She's going out with Mousse tonight, alright? She's all dressed up."

"She on date with Mousse?"

"They're gonna take dancing lessons."

"She your bride. Why you not go?"

"I thought it sounded stupid, alright?" Ranma said, aggrieved. "I didn't know she was gonna get all dolled up to go get manhandled by Mousse for an hour, did I?"

"Shampoo come with."

"Want to keep an eye on Mousse?"

Shampoo scoffed, though she didn't look at him while she did. "Of course not. Come along make sure you not ruin sister's date."

"Whatever. Come on. She's meeting him at Ucchan's."

The two of them sped off and arrived just in time to see a well-turned out Mousse and Akane exit Ucchan's arm in arm.

"That Mousse?" Shampoo said in shock.

It was hardly surprising. He looked completely different. His long hair was pulled back in a neat low ponytail. He wasn't wearing his usual dorky glasses, but he seemed able to see just fine.. They both dimly recalled him mentioning his prescription glasses and contacts had just come in that morning. He was wearing a suit rather than his usual long white robe. Akane in her frilly dress seemed to complement him perfectly. They looked good together, natural even. They were smiling and laughing together and seemed to be having a wonderful time.

They stayed a ways behind the two of them until they saw them enter a building.

"Oh. Is lucky. Have big window on front. We watch from here."

"No. They'll see us. Wait…it looks like there's a skylight. We can watch from there."

"That stupid. We see top of head… unless…oh, Shampoo see. Pervert boy want look down sister's dress."

"I do not!"

"HA! Shampoo see how you look when you know she not looking."

Ranma by this point was red, twitching and looked ready to bolt. Shampoo took a moment to pity her poor sister.

"Stop be stupid. She bride, you look. Is natural. Is not bad thing. She look too, like what she see. Is good thing, yes?"

"She does?"

"Of course! Peel clothes off with eyes, she does. Likes you black shirt. Makes arms and shoulders look good. She always smile when you wear."

"Probably can't help herself since I'm such a hunk and all."

"Hunk of stupid, maybe. You do same thing. She pretty girl, yes? Strong warrior. You look, she look. Is all good. Now you be quiet so can watch."

They laid down on the far side of the roof on their stomachs and peered over the apex. The room filled quickly with couples, and all was chaos for a bit as they milled around greeting each other. Unfortunately, when the class finally started, Akane and Mousse were in the back of the room away from the window. There were several awkwardly bobbing couples in the way. After about fifteen minutes they gave up and moved to the skylight.

"Looks like fun." Shampoo said after they'd watched for a while. "Maybe next time we go too. Mousse been behaving self. If he keep doing, maybe I dance with. You dance with Akane."

"W-what? No! I already told her I didn't wanna!"

"So you change mind. Easy."

"I can't! I'll look like an idiot!"

"Already look like idiot, let other man dance with sister when she your bride. You want be down there, so tell her you go next time."

"I can't! She'll think I wanna dance with her!"

Shampoo sighed and prayed for patience.

"So? You do want to! Why is bad thing she knows this? Is not bad thing, want to be with woman you love."

"L-L-L….who said anything about that?!"

"Shampoo see." she scoffed. "I see you look at me sometimes."

When Ranma looked panicked and guilty she sighed and waved a hand dismissively

"Shampoo very beautiful, is natural you look. You look, you like what see, you look away. Is okay. Shampoo be mad you _not_ look. You look at sister too…but when you look at sister, you look like she your sun and stars. She woman you love. Is not bad thing be embarrassed about."

She sighed then, rather wistfully. "Shampoo want someone look at her like that."

"Mousse does." Ranma said quietly. "When you're not looking, he looks at you like you're the last pork bun on the plate."

Shampoo gave him a flat look in return.

"Oh, that real romantic. Surprised you not have girls lined up around block with sweet talk like that."

"Give me a break. I spent the last ten years on the road with my idiot pop doing nothing but training. I'm not good at this stuff."

"Then you learn is all. You not stupid, though you being stupid right now. You find weakness you make strong."

Shampoo figured she'd said enough for the moment, so she went back to watching the dancers below.

 

 

"We're home!" Akane announced as she and Mousse returned to the dojo. Shampoo waved from where she was lounging and watching tv with Nabiki. Ranma glanced up casually from his spot at the table, nodded and went back to his manga.

Mousse and Akane traded a look and stifled grins. They had felt the two of them shadowing them to the dance studio and felt them overhead through most of the lesson. They had darted off when class began breaking up and hightailed it back here. They had both been hiding their ki, but Akane had always been able to sense when Ranma was around, even when hiding his presence with the Umisen-ken. Mousse had the same sensitivity to Shampoo. If not for that knowledge, their casual disinterest might have fooled them both.

Elsewhere in the room Kasumi, Nodoka and Nabiki traded an amused look. Ranma and Shampoo had arrived about fifteen minutes ago, pelted inside, and then slumped in place, settling in as though they'd not moved for hours and greeted the arrivals of the missing members with studied indifference. Nabiki drank some tea so she wouldn't laugh in Ranma's face when Mousse and Akane simply greeted everyone and then proceeded casually upstairs, talking and laughing quietly, seemingly unaware of the sullen blue gaze that followed them.

The three women watched in interest when the two came back down, dressed in loose, comfortable clothing and proceeded out to the dojo when they came back down, Akane carrying a small radio in one hand, seemingly oblivious to the intense gazes that followed them. Shampoo sat up and stared in the direction they'd gone and then looked at Ranma, eyebrow raised. He glared back and then glared at his manga, pretending to read it.

Shampoo huffed, rolled her eyes and got up to follow them, whispering something mocking to him as she passed. He sat there, frustrated for a little longer, then gave in and hurried after. Shampoo was waiting just out of sight, face still mocking.

"Good. Maybe not so stupid. Shampoo worried she was going to have drag you there."

"Whatever."

 

They could hear slightly tinny music as they drew closer.

"Still think we didn't need to practice what we just learned?"

"I stand corrected. It's not as easy as it looks, moving in sync with a partner like this."

"We'll get better. I think we've already improved a lot just since the start of class. We just need practice is all."

"Maybe we should go to a club one evening and just spend the evening dancing. From what sensei was saying, the Latin dances especially, while they have basic steps, true mastery involves a lot of improv and variation. The European dances are a bit more static."

"It will probably be easier to find a club to practice the former in any case. It sounds like it would be both fun and educational. We should definitely do that."

Ranma and Shampoo traded a surprised glance. It seemed their 'date' tonight wasn't going to be a one time thing. They way they were talking they'd be out all the time. Shampoo opened the door and walked in, Ranma right behind her. They both froze when they found Mousse bent over with Akane draped over one arm, smiling at each other. They turned to look at the two of them, still in their pose, and looked at them curiously, as though wondering what on earth either of them was doing there. They seemed to suddenly remember their awkward position and hurriedly straightened up.

"Hi, you two. Bored or something?" Akane asked.

"Just curious. What you doing?" Ranma replied.

"Just practice is all. Apparently there's a regional championship coming up. I don't know if we'll get good enough to win in time, but we still thought it would be fun to try. There's prize money and everything, so why not give it a shot, right?"

"Competition with prize money, eh? Hey Shampoo, maybe me and you should get in on this thing. We'd probably be fantastic." Ranma bragged.

Shampoo stiffened and glared at Ranma in exasperation. Mousse frowned irritably. Akane sighed, counted to ten in her head, and then again.

_"It seems I was right. I wish I wasn't. It's like the hot springs obstacle race all over again."_ Out loud she said. "Pay up."

Mousse glared at Ranma and then turned to face Akane and bowed rather floridly.

"Akane Tendo you are a magnificent treasure…a goddess among women."

Akane grinned at him, though he could see her smile didn't reach her eyes and made a victory sign.

Ranma and Shampoo looked a bit off balance from this strange development.

"Do as you like, Ranma, but don't take us lightly." Akane warned. "We'll be training hard and doing our best to win this thing."

She fiddled with the radio until she found suitable music. She and Mousse retook their positions at the center of the room, arms extended to one side, hands clasped, her other hand on his shoulder and his on her waist. They began moving together carefully and a bit stiffly, but their dance became smoother as they found each other's rhythm and they were soon twirling around the room.

"This was easier when you were in heels."

"Yeah, it was, but it's still doable. It's not my fault you're so tall."

"That you're so short, you mean."

"I'll have you know I happen to be the perfect height, thank you."

As they whirled past, bickering good naturedly, Ranma felt a sinking feeling in his stomach.

_"That should be me out there…but because of my stupid mouth… Damn it."_

 

 

" **I must have pissed off a whole bunch of kami or something in another life. That's the only explanation I can think of. See what you've driven me to? I'm sleeping half the day away so I can see you, even if I know it ain't real. A perfect world, where our friends don't try to kill us, where our families act like reasonable people, and me and you can just hang out and not fight all the damn time… except, I'm still a dumbass with a big mouth and keep messing up. Damn it, Tomboy, wake up already. I can't… You're not supposed to be so still and quiet. It's not right. Look, I'll make a deal with ya, alright? Wake up, and I'll take ya dancing every night if it'll make you happy… Just… come on. Since when does a dumb macho chick like you give up like this? Wake up. Please."**

"Ranma?" Akane said groggily.

She sat up slightly in her bed and rubbed the sleep from her eyes and glanced at the clock on her bedside table. _"Two a.m."_

She glanced around suspiciously, but her window was closed, as was her door. Shampoo was still sound asleep on her futon, and she likely would have woken had anyone actually entered the room.

_"That's strange. I thought I heard Ranma… I thought I felt him too. What a weird dream."_

She laid down, strangely unsettled.

_"Why would I dream of Ranma insulting me and demanding I wake up in the middle of the night so we can go dancing? That's such a bizarre thing for me to dream about."_

She tried to laugh it off. She snuggled down into her covers after thumping her pillow a few times to get it back into shape and tried to go back to sleep, but the strange dream continued to weigh on her even as sleep once more pulled her under.

_"More to the point…why did he sound so sad?"_


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ranma and Akane have a heart to heart and go dancing, Sasuke gets kidnapped by ninjas

Akane glanced up when she heard footsteps entering the dojo.

"Ranma?"

He was in girl form for some reason.

"Hey. Getting some practice in?"

"I was planning to. Shampoo's working late tonight, so I'm not going to get my usual spar in with her, and I'm feeling restless." she frowned then, thoughtfully. "I really need to find a good time for Ukyo to get in on all the practices the rest of us have been doing. She's going to get left behind at this rate."

"I'm kinda in the same boat. Pops is at work tonight. Mom made him get a second job when she saw how much him and me eat."

He grinned when Akane giggled. Things hadn't exactly been awkward, and they hadn't been fighting or anything since he'd more or less challenged her and Mousse in dancing with Shampoo as his partner… but he'd noticed something missing that he was becoming increasingly desperate to get back.

"Our last fight got interrupted before we really got started…" he reminded her.

"Yeah, it did. You going to fight like that?"

"I think I need to."

"What do you mean?"

"Well…since you got me that soap, I think I've only been in girl form once, and that was just 'cause I got splashed on the way to the furo. I changed back right away and put more soap on and was a guy the rest of the day. I used to get splashed a lot, but since the soap I've been getting drenched night and day. It's really getting ridiculous. I started to wonder if maybe if I spend some time like this every day if the curse'll stop acting up so much. I mean, it's a curse, right, it's not supposed to make you happy, or be easy to get around. Maybe I should sleep like this and…"

"Actually, you should definitely sleep in your boy form. Most of your growth takes place while you're sleeping. You might end up stunting it."

Ranma blanched and decided to make damn sure he was always a boy if he was asleep or unconscious.

"Damn. I was hoping I could get out of being seen much like this."

"If it makes you feel any better, Mousse has been going out as a duck to swim in the lake on his breaks sometimes. He said it's strangely relaxing, but that he keeps having an urge to flee southward."

"Heh."

"If you're going to fight like that, let me get something for you first."

"What?"

Akane didn't answer, she just vanished into the house and returned a few minutes later with something in her hand.

"Take your shirt off."

"Why?" Ranma asked warily, though he complied.

He balked and began loudly complaining when Akane began stuffing him into a sports' bra.

"Quit it. You'll appreciate this, believe me. Frankly I'm amazed you get into so many fights as a girl and it never seems to bother you. I'd think the nipple chafing alone would be a nightmare…"

**"Eh!?"**

"Relax. It's no different than wearing an athletic supporter when you're playing sports, this is just one for a woman's body rather than a man's."

"This feels weird."

"That's because you have to adjust yourself so everything is settled properly. Reach down, pull everything sideways and up, get your jugs properly settled in the cups there. Okay, now jump up and down a few times."

Ranma glowered at her unhappily, but complied once more, then got a surprised, pleased look on his face.

"Hey!" He jumped up and did a back flip, twisted and contorted, jumped up and down some more.

"See?"

"Yeah. That always really bothered me. I didn't realize quite how much until just now…"

"Exactly. In spite of what most men seem to think, bras are worn for the woman's sake, not the man's…except in special circumstances."

"Only one problem…"

"Is it too tight? It looks like it fits alright…"

"No. It's that this thing makes me look nearly flatchested!"

**"BAKA!"** Akane grumbled.

Ranma batted his eyes and adopted one of the cheesecake poses he tended to fall into so easily while in girl form.

"It's criminal though…hiding such a smoking hot bod from the world."

Akane snorted and parted the top of her gi, showing she was wearing a similar item.

"Guess what? It makes absolutely no difference when perverts have you in their sights. I got groped and harassed just as much walking around looking flatchested as I did before I started wearing one of these all the time."

Ranma's cheeks grew rosy and he busied himself putting his shirt back on while Akane got her gi refastened and moved to the center of the dojo.

"So are we gonna fight or what?"

"Uh…yeah."

 

For awhile, the only sounds were the soft thud of feet and the smack of flesh hitting flesh. Akane noted Ranma seemed strangely cheerful to be sparring with her; he usually got annoyed when she wanted to and thought it a waste of time. Oh well, she wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

_"Horses again. What's with me lately?"_

Ranma oh so lightly poked her.

"You don't have to hold back quite so much. I'm not made of glass, you know."

"I ain't punching ya, so don't even ask."

"Tell me something, Ranma, if you have students one day, how are you going to handle any girls that come along? You'll be compromising their training!"

"Simple. You're gonna handle them. I'd think that'd go without saying. Geez. You're dropping your left again. Watch that."

"O-okay." Akane managed to reply.

Her heart was pounding, from something so simple. She and Ranma never really talked about the future or what it would look like. The engagement was always hanging over them, and it was understood that they'd marry one day, but it was always carefully avoided. Having him just say something like that…

_"Damn. I both wish he was a guy right now and am sort of glad he isn't at the same time. I probably would have done a Shampoo impression and glomped him when he said that. I still kind of want to…but if I go jumping on him while he's a girl, it'll freak him out and probably give him the wrong impression…"_

_"Damn… I really wish I was a guy right now. She's looking all fired up like she did during our last fight before it got interrupted. I think… I think I'm getting turned on… We're both girls right now! Girls don't get like that…. Right? Or…is this another thing my stupid pops has no clue about? Does… does Akane feel like this right now? If she does, no wonder mom said I shouldn't keep her waiting. I've been torturing her with my sexy good looks all this time!"_

_"Wow… Ranma's all…smolder-y. Is he turned on right now? Damn it, Ranma! You'll never make the first move and if I do you'll go running for the hills! ARGH! Change the subject. We both need to cool it!"_

"So, have you and Shampoo been training hard?" Akane asked desperately. She didn't really want to bring up his dickish behavior from before, but it was all she could think of.

"Huh?" Ranma squeaked as he tried to clear the hormonal haze from his mind and get his brain working again.

"For the dance contest. I know it's only Junior Regionals, but the folks that'll be there will have all been dancing for a while and are probably pretty good."

"Oh, uh, well… Shampoo wasn't really interested. I can't go without a partner. Next time, I guess." Ranma laughed nervously.

"Ranma? Do you even know how to dance?"

"Of course!" Ranma scoffed, pride stung.

"Really? Let's see then."

"Whatdya mean?"

"Prove it."

The radio was still there from Akane and Mousse's practices. She turned it on and fiddled until she found suitable music. Ranma glowered at her, sniffed, put his arms out like he was holding an invisible partner and began twirling around.

"You're doing the girl's part." Ranma froze, chilled with horror for a moment, before he pulled up his bravado. "W-well…I'm a girl right now, ain't I?"

"I suppose. There's also the fact that anyone can do that alone. That's not the tricky part." Akane noted, taking out a thermos.

"I can do it like this."

"It'll be hard if we're both trying to do the girl's part. You should change out of that first. Your regular body is a lot bigger than your curse form. It'll probably hurt…not to mention stretch it out. It's brand new. I'd rather it wasn't ruined."

"Oh…right." Ranma stripped off his shirt and once out of the sports bra was suddenly hit in the chest with hot water--though Akane was there a moment later with a towel, drying him off.

"Ah…"

"What? I didn't want to get your shirt wet. I didn't do anything wrong, did I?"

"Ah, no….uh…"

"Good. Now where were we?" she asked, snatching the shirt and bra and tossing them and the towel to the sidelines.

When he didn't move, she gently grabbed his arm and guided his hand to her waist and then slid her hand lightly back up his arm to rest on his shoulder. Ranma shivered and his mouth went dry. Akane held out her other arm, waiting.

"Something wrong?"

"Uh, no. No, I'm good."

He hesitated a moment and spoke again. "I've never really done this with someone so…"

"I'm a beginner myself. It doesn't matter if we stumble a bit in the beginning. We'll figure it out together."

Ranma wasn't sure, but he had a feeling she was talking about more than just them dancing, and it made him relax just a tad.

"Ready?"

"Yep."

They began moving together, awkwardly at first, though they quickly caught the hang of things. Once they had, Ranma started improvising and swept Akane along for the ride.

"What? We've got the basics down, now it's time for master level." Ranma defended himself, though not seriously, as Akane didn't seem to be mad--if anything she seemed to be having fun, she was having trouble not giggling as he spun her out and then reeled her back in before dipping her.

"I swear…you're infuriating sometimes, you know that? You just picked this up from watching the class, didn't you? And here you are, first time through and you're already better than half the class is."

Ranma grinned, cocky and self-assured. "What can I say, when you've got it you've got it."

"Pity me…my fiancé is an egomaniac" Akane said sadly.

"HA HA." Ranma retorted.

He frowned suddenly and looked at her.

"You…knew we were watching the class the other day."

"Ranma, I hate to break it to you, but you weren't exactly being stealthy. You obviously didn't want us to know so we didn't say anything." she explained. "Can you do me a favor, Ranma?"

"Possibly. Depends."

"Next time…if I mention something I think sounds like it'll be fun…could you try it at least once before deciding you don't like it so we don't have to go through this again?"

"Yeah. I can do that." Ranma agreed quietly after several moments of silence.

 

"We were supposed to be sparring.. So how far have you gotten in putting together a ballroom-dance style martial arts?"

"Not too far. Wait…how'd you know I was even working on it? I didn't tell nobody."

"Because you're you."

"Predictable, am I?"

"Only in this. So…let's see what you've got so far."

"You want to learn it?"

"Given how our lives were the last time around, I think I have to. Could be fun. Oh! We could expand it to just be a whole dance martial arts, not just ballroom. I know things like capoeira have been used as the basis for dancing already…oh! Swing dancing. There's a club in town with a swing night. I bet that would work even better than ballroom--are you familiar with it?"

When Ranma shook his head she grinned excitedly. "What time is it?"

"Uh…just going on four."

"It starts at six. We have plenty of time to get changed and get down there."

"Uh…"

"Trust me?"

"Yeah."

"You'll like this, I'm sure. It's very…energetic Oh! And you'll also get to show off how strong you are." she added for enticement.

Ranma sighed and drug his feet a bit, but he wasn't quite as put-out as he was pretending. He let her drag him along, enjoying having her smiling, and best of all focused completely on him.

 

 

_We are the chaaaampions…of the **WORLD**!_

"Well. Sounds like our lovebirds had fun." Nabiki said dryly as they heard the sound of Ranma and Akane singing rather enthusiastically as they approached the house and then chortling.

Soun, Nodoka and Genma all smiled contentedly at how well their children were getting along, and dreaming of fat grandchildren to come.

Shampoo said a quiet prayer of thanks that Ranma had stopped being stupid. Mousse looked longingly at Shampoo while she was distracted and wished it was the two of them returning from a successful date. The entire household subtly (for them) craned their heads for a glimpse of the young couple as they came in, all hoping for some sign that they'd been amorously engaged so they could tease them mercilessly.

"Oh my!" Kasumi exclaimed when they finally caught sight of them. One of Ranma's sleeves was missing and Akane's pretty yellow dress was tattered and looked burned in a few places. They both had several bruises and their hair was full of plaster dust.

"We're home." Ranma announced. "We brought a new addition for the dojo along. You're looking at the current martial-arts dancing champions." he explained, hefting a trophy.

"How? You don't even know how to dance…and you've just started learning." Mousse pointed out.

"Please. Ranma is a master at improv, and due to my difficulties at school, I rock in melee combat." Akane scoffed.

"Exactly. Put us together and we're an unbeatable team." Ranma nodded.

"We completely flattened the competition. It was great." Akane chirped happily. "Which reminds me. You need to learn how to ice skate. I imagine the so-called 'Golden Pair' is going to be challenging us to a rematch as soon as ice-skating season starts."

"Yeah? Good. I'm looking forward to defeating that creep again, not to mention his ditzy partner." Ranma growled, his expression dark.

The jerk had spent half the competition trying to kiss Akane. Once he'd failed to kiss her when he tried to, he became obsessed with getting her before the night was over. "Stupid pervert."

"I thought you two were going to swing night, not entering a martial arts competition." Nabiki interjected, annoyed that yet another money-making opportunity escaped her because she hadn't gotten any forewarning.

"We were. The hall where they usually hold it was hosting the annual mixed martial arts dance-off. Swing night was supposed to come back next week, though we don't really need it now. We picked up the gist of it during the competition."

"What do you mean 'was supposed to come back'?" Kasumi inquired.

"The hall's gonna be closed for repairs for a while." Ranma shrugged.

Nabiki looked at the two of them in horror. "What did you do and how much is it going to cost us?"

"We didn't do nuthin!"

"It wasn't us, sis, it was the tour bus that crashed through the wall during the finals."

"Yeah. The guy got into something he shouldn't have and ran afoul of some ninjas."

"You'd think he'd have been smart enough to not try driving and battling ninjas at the same time…"

"Probably didn't want to lose his job. If he owes those guys money, it's not gonna help him much being unemployed."

"Tell that to the poor mariachi band that got drug along for the ride."

"Okaaay… I guess that explains the plaster dust. Why are you burned?" Nabiki asked curiously.

"That was the monkeys." Ranma told her helpfully.

"Yeah. They got a hold of some firecrackers somewhere. They came in through the wall after the bus crashed, while the ninja battle was still going on…"

"We figured they smelled the buffet that was laid out."

"Some of the food was in warming pans with an open flame underneath."

"Yeah, and the monkey with the firecrackers dropped it near the flames so he could have both hands free ta eat."

"When they started going off, they got scared and batted the things into the crowd."

"The noise was still bothering them, and they started swatting the warming pans away too, while they made off with the fruit plates."

"Yeah, so there was a fire, and explosions everywhere"

"And the tour bus driver and the ninjas were still battling…"

"But the competition hadn't ended yet, so we kept going. The accident took out a lot of the competitors, so we just focused on who was left, while dodging the ninjas, the explosions and the fire…After this the junior regionals are going to seem rather tame."  Akane concluded.

"Yeah…just dancing at a dance competition. What a drag." Nabiki agreed, voice wry.

Kasumi had just brought out tea and cakes for everyone when Ranma suddenly went down with an 'OOOF!' and found himself pinned to the floor with a heavy weight on his back, and Akane found herself being molested by an octopus.

 

Actually, it was Tatewaki Kuno, age 17. Given how handsy he was, it's understandable that she was momentarily confused.

Akane managed to free one of her arms long enough to haul off and slap him, leaving a raised red welt in the shape of her hand across half his face, just moments before Ranma surged up beneath him, and punched him on the other side of his face, hard enough to send him flying to land head down on one of the rocks surrounding the koi pond in the garden.

"That hurt you know." Kuno said conversationally.

**"GOOD!"** Ranma and Akane shouted back.

"Another guest. I should fetch another cup and plate." Kasumi mused as she rose to head to the kitchen.

"No, you shouldn't, sister. That molester is an honorless cur who is most definitely not welcome here." Akane said icily before rising to go take a bath.

She had never dealt well with the many perverts that seemed drawn to her like flies to honey, but since dealing with some of her anger it was just that much harder.

Kuno made an instant recovery and was back inside, looming over her with her hands clasped in his own.

"What is this? Has some imposter done something importune to thee, my fair tigress, that would make you think ill of me, the Blue Thunder of…"

**"Keep your damn hands off of her, you bastard! I'm getting sick of going through this every damn day!"** Ranma growled, popping up between them and forcing Kuno to back off.  "Go ahead and get changed, Akane, I've got this."

Akane rested a hand lightly on the his back in thanks and left without a word.

Her uncharacteristic silence and compliance seemed to gain Kuno's attention the way a thousand punches and screams never had. Sadly, because it was Kuno, he drew all the wrong conclusions--and his bokken.

"Foul sorcerer! Bad enough that you hold the beauteous pigtailed girl captive, but now you have extended your foul, nefarious magics to ensnare the soul of my beloved Akane Tendo as well? Unforgivable! I won't allow it!"

"Wow. He special kind of stupid, huh?" Shampoo commented into the tense silence that resulted.

The deadly 'snick' of a katana leaving its sheath ebbed through the room in the wake of Shampoo's comment. Kuno and Ranma both glanced over and saw Nodoka, the handle of the katana in one hand, the sheath in the other, held in front of her like she meant business. Her normally placid demeanor had been replaced by the most deadly of all expressions-- disappointed mother--known to bring Japanese men to their knees in contrition in .5 seconds. It worked this time as well.

"Who are you and what do you mean by invading our home and assaulting my daughter in law?"

"Foul sorcerer! You have wed the…."

Kuno half rose, ready to begin ranting once more, but then Kasumi added her own disappointed mother look, and he timidly sat back down and bowed slightly in contrition.

Shampoo and Mousse hunkered down as well, their shoulders pressed together for courage in the face of this devastating double-attack. Mothers back in their village knew a similar technique, as did all the matriarchs. To have two such master practitioners using in a single room was devastating to even the strongest warrior.

Kuno suddenly straightened and smacked his fist into his palm as though he'd just remembered something.

"That's right! I came here to ask for the fierce Akane Tendo's assistance, but I was so distracted by her beauty I forgot why I came here!"

"You came to ask Akane for help? With what?" Nabiki interjected curiously.

"My servant, Sasuke was kidnapped by ninjas earlier. My twisted sister is currently following their trail. There were quite a few of them, and my sister suggested I seek aid for when we confront them."

"Isn't Sasuke a ninja? Why would other ninjas kidnap him?" Nabiki wondered.

"They didn't say. They just appeared, overwhelmed him and his friend from his village, and ran off with them."

"His friend?"

"Yes, he visits now and again. He's undercover as a bus driver." Kuno agreed. "Their monkeys left quite a mess behind."

"Monkeys again?" Ranma said in surprise.

"Sasuke's full name is Sasuke Sarugakure. Those weren't just any ninjas, they were probably from his own clan, the ninjas of the hidden monkey village!" Akane said with realization as she reappeared. She had changed into a Chinese style loose, long-sleeved tunic that went to her knees and loose baggy pants. She'd gotten the remaining plaster dust out of her hair, which was now braided tightly in a crown around the back of her head. She sat down slightly behind Ranma, keeping him between her and Kuno.

Ranma glanced back at her and took in her outfit.

"Going somewhere?"

"I'm not changing into my pajamas with him here." she muttered back quietly.

Kasumi and Nodoka's disappointed faces cranked up a notch, and Kuno, the dads and the Amazons all quivered. Kuno pulled himself together to finish his story.

"As you can see, I have a very good reason to be here." Kuno continued, jumping to his feet once more. "I must rescue my faithful servant, for so I have sworn! For I am Tatewaki Kuno, the Blue Thunder of…. The BLUE THUNDER…"

Akane's shoulders slumped, as did her head when Kuno, who now seemed rather lost, collapsed to his knees again and began weeping bitterly, while hanging off his bokken, as though it were the only thing keeping him upright.

"Damn it." she whispered quietly. "Sasuke's not around to do his sound effects." she explained to Ranma who looked confused at his sudden downturn.

Across the room, Shampoo rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Aiyaah. Akane is too too nice person for own good." she muttered disgustedly.

Mousse gave a small smile and looked over at the girl in question. "She is…but truthfully, it's one of her endearing qualities." he agreed.

Shampoo frowned unhappily at his words, though Mousse didn't see it because he was still looking at Akane.

 

Akane sighed and went to sit near Kuno and patted him on the shoulder. "There, there, Kuno-sempai, we'll get Sasuke back, don't worry."

"Akane Tendo, my love! I knew you really….URK!"

Kuno grunted when he got a fist to the eye when he tried to leap on Akane again.

"Don't push your luck." she growled.

Ranma came over and sat next to her, close enough that their legs and arms were pressed lightly together. He was frowning and his arms were crossed.

"Yeah, really. Don't." he added.

"Kuno-sempai, Sasuke told me his clan has served the Kuno family for generations. He was sent to your home to look after you by someone. Do you know who did that?" Akane asked, trying to get back on track.

"Most likely my grandfather. He's the current head of the Kuno family."

"Do you know your grandfather's phone number?"

"Yes."

"Good. Why don't you give him a call and tell him what's going on. He will likely be able to get in touch with the ninja clan and find out what's happening. We may be able to resolve this easily. Let's get more information before we go rushing in." Akane said encouragingly.

Kuno beamed and seemed ready to lunge again, but just at that moment the katana that Nodoka was polishing caught the light. He froze before making any move and looked over at the woman. She was smiling placidly, but there was gruesome death in her eyes.

"I'll just go make that phone call, shall I?"

"Good idea." Ranma agreed with a tight smile.

 

Once Kuno was out of sight, Akane sighed, rolled her head to release some of the tension building in her neck and then reached up to massage her forehead and temples to rid herself of the headache that was building there.

"You alright there?"

"Yeah. I just get tired of dealing with his nonsense."

" _Che_. You and me both. I really hope monkey guy is just off for some secret ninja initiation or something. I am not looking forward to going on another rescue mission with the blue blunder."

"It's for Sasuke, not him, and Sasuke is my friend. He came to try and rescue me in China."

"Yeah. He did say he went along for your sake and not the Kuno's. He might have gone along even if they weren't bankrolling things."

"Exactly. So how could I do any less for him?"

"How long do you think it'll be before we know anything?"

"I don't know. Kuno's grandpa has to get in touch with the ninjas, find someone who knows what's going on… It'll probably be a while."

"That's what I figured. Come on. Let's go work off some of the tension while we wait." Ranma decided.

He jumped to his feet and held down a hand for Akane.

"Good idea. I'll go mad if I have to just sit here with him till we know something." Akane agreed.

Neither of them noticed the widened eyes or dropped jaws…though they did notice the whole group falling over in shock when they started towards the dojo, not their bedrooms.

"What's with them?" Ranma wondered.

"Got me."

 

 

"So where are we going…and why?" Ukyo asked when she and Konatsu met up with the rest of them on the rooftop of her restaurant.

"We're going to go save Sasuke from possible execution." Akane replied.

"Execution?" Konatsu said with alarm.

"He make friend with rogue ninja. Other ninja think he bad mans too. They kill." Shampoo explained with a shrug.

"My grandfather tried to find out more, but he was informed it was an internal clan matter and not for him to worry about. We must find my twisted sister and make our way to their stronghold to put things to rights!" Kuno said dramatically, posing before the full moon.

"And how are we supposed to do that? Do you even know what direction she went?" Mousse wondered.

Akane reached up and snagged something from the air. "Simple. We follow the trail of black rose petals. Hey, Kuno-sempai, do you know if Sasuke was conscious when he was carried off?"

"I do not believe so. Why?"

"If he was, he likely would have left a trail as well, if he could manage it. If he was unconscious though… I guess it doesn't really matter. We know what their ultimate destination is."

"We do? Good. Where are we going?" Ukyo wondered.

"Shikoku." Ranma sighed.

"Shikoku!" Ukyo groaned. "That's going to take forever!"

"Couple o' hours by bullet train. It'll be fine." Ranma said dismissively.

"See, this is why I never do well in school! Always running off to rescue someone."

"Lives are more important than grades. Relax, Ucchan."

"We needn't worry about transportation. My grandfather arranged a flight to bring us to him. We must first collect my twisted sister."

"A flight? Cool. I've never been on an airplane before." Ranma said cheerfully.

"You always went to China by boat?" Ukyo asked curiously.

"Boat? With how cheap pops is? Hah. We swam. Both ways."

"Geez. I'd have died for sure." Akane muttered.

"It's pretty exhausting, but I'm sure you could have managed if you were determined enough." Ranma objected.

"You don't know the sorts of trouble I had with swimming. The day I managed to go from one end of a pool to the other without nearly drowning there was talk of having a parade in my honor. It was considered that much of a miracle."

"I remember that!" Ukyo laughed. "You really were a hopeless case. What caused the turnaround anyway? I never knew."

"I got a magic swimsuit from a king jellyfish that liked to toss girls in the air and catch them. It allowed me to swim like a champion. I won the race against all the other hopeless cases in similar suits. It was fun…not to mention it was nice being able to be in the water and not feel like I was about to die at any moment. The suit only lasted a couple of days--turns out it was made of seaweed and it dried up and fell apart. I knew I'd never experience that again unless I learned to swim on my own. I spent hours in meditation trying to remember how it felt with the suit on and what I was doing differently. Once I was sure I had that, I went to a local community center for a few weeks and took swimming classes. I never told anyone." Akane explained.

"Huh. Well, good for you. I still remember how shocked everyone was. It was pretty funny, looking back."Ukyo laughed.

"Funnier if you're not the butt of the joke, but yeah, it really was."

"OOOOHOHOHOHOHOHO!"

"Looks like we find crazy ribbon girl." Shampoo sighed.

"Brother, dear, I was beginning to think you too had been waylaid by ninjas as well!" Kodachi said grandly, alighting on the roof with a pose.

"Nay sister. I contacted grandfather to learn more of Sasuke's plight. We must away to the airport post haste so that we may resolve this matter at once."

"Then let us away, brother! OOOOHOHOHOHOHO!"

"Yeah. Forgot how annoying she was." Ukyo sighed tiredly.

"She have laugh like nails on chalkboard or some other bad thing." Shampoo agreed.

"Let's just go." Akane sighed as well.

 

 

When they finally arrived at the gate to their flight, there was a surprise waiting for them.

"It's about time you all got here. You know how much I hate waiting…Kuno-baby."

"Mercenary girl? What you do here?" Shampoo wondered.

It was indeed Nabiki. She was clad in a form-fitting black suit with a skirt short enough it just bordered on indecent.

_"Well of course it is… that outfit is mine, damn it, and she's a couple inches taller than me. If she wants to dress like that, it's her business. I just wish she'd do it with her own damned clothes!"_ Akane thought to herself.

Her older sister managed to annoy her so easily even now. She was posed leaning in the doorway with one leg cocked against the wall (to show off her legs to best effect), with her arms crossed beneath her breasts (to give them some lift and obvious cleavage--Nabiki was full of such tricks, Akane knew well) She had on her customary mocking smile--the one that seemed to say she knew something you didn't, and what you didn't know was going to cost you dearly. Sadly for the rest of the world, this usually seemed to be true, at least when it came to her.

"Sis, what are you doing here?" Akane demanded.

"I'm here to negotiate the return of Kuno-baby's little ninja guy. If it was left up to you lot, you'd probably end up starting a war." Nabiki scoffed.

"How greatly you underestimate us. We were planning to negotiate first. Busting heads is always plan B, unless someone is in immediate danger." Akane said with a straight face.

The rest of them did their best to look innocent. The truth was, busting heads was in fact their only plan, but they were hardly going to let Nabiki know that. It didn't seem to fool her--her mocking smile grew a bit more condescending and she snorted lightly before sashaying off towards the plane.

"Let's go, people. Time is wasting."

"Who appoint her leader?" Shampoo grumbled as the rest of them fell in line.

"She did." Akane, Ranma, Mousse, Ukyo and Kuno all replied in unison.

"OOOOHOHOHOHOHO! I should better acquaint myself with this woman. For a lowly peasant, she has style!"

The rest of them shuddered. A Nabiki/Kodachi alliance was surely a sign of the apocalypse.


	9. The Nerima Wrecking Crew

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ninjas, Nabiki, and a new business is started by accident

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the long delay. All I can say is real life got away from me for a bit. I hadn't realized just how long it had been since I updated until I saw the date stamp :(   
> Anyway, on with the chapter. Enjoy!

"Tell me something…how exactly is Nabiki planning on negotiating for Sasuke's release when she's not even with us?" Ukyo wondered as she stopped for a brief rest on the branch of a tree.  "She's still back at Kuno's grandpa's house, sunning herself by the pool and getting his servants to wait on her hand and foot.  Hello? Is this thing on?"

"We hear you just fine, Ucchan.  Someone was passing beneath us and we didn't want them ta hear us.  I think we're here.  Kuno and Kodachi and their guide are approaching a temple complex."

"This small talky things good idea.  Where you get?" Shampoo's voice sounded over everyone's earpiece a moment later.

"Second hand shop, oddly enough.  Konatsu recognized what they were.  We got them dirt cheap." Akane replied.

"Wow.  I really need to start hitting those more.  You've been getting all sorts of great finds there lately." Ukyo said with some amazement.

"I know, right?"

"Ladies, if we could get back to the topic at hand? What's our next move?" Mousse's voice sounded next.  "Do we have a plan beyond the two of them going in?"

"We're giving Nabiki's suggestion some merit, even though she abandoned us.  They're going to try talking first.  Kuno-sempai, Kodachi-chan, no don't answer me, keep being casual!  Don't forget to give us some idea of where you are so we can find you if you need backup!" Akane spoke up.

"Don't say anything obvious _like oh, we're making a right off the long corridor_ , comment about the décor or something so we know what to look for if we need to follow you." Konatsu chimed in.

"Good thinking, Konatsu." Ranma acknowledged.  

"We should hide our presences as we get closer." Konatsu added.

"I…haven't mastered that yet." Akane admitted.

"It's easy enough.  Just pretend you're a river.  Just flowing by, nothing touches you." Ranma suggested.

"A river?" Akane sighed.  "Right.  I'll be a river."  

 

She tried to do as he said as they crept closer, but his occasional worried glance back told her she still wasn't getting it.  She couldn't help it; even though she knew how to swim now, rivers and oceans still brought to mind the feeling of being swept under, choking on water and drowning.  Even still pools, thanks to getting drowned in Jusenkyo.  She reeled in her emotions and kept trying, but the image that emerged as she did so wasn't a swift flowing river, but rather the sacred waterfall at the temple she worked at.  Chiyo-sensei had set her the task of standing under it when she'd first started training with her.  It was supposed to purify you and wash away negativity.  She'd been annoyed, and increasingly furious as the water pounded down on her head as she tried to meditate.  Somewhere along the line she had managed to fall into a trance and called up her power.  She was numb from the cold and just sort of lost in her mind and ended up thinking about her life and the people in it and her own culpability in many of the problems she'd been having for the last few years. 

Something about being physically taxed and slowly freezing to death removes your ability to live comfortably in your illusions.  It had been an enlightening experience.  She'd emerged shivering and exhausted but feeling reborn.  Afterwards, dry and in warm clothes once more, they had talked for hours about her experience.   Chiyo-sensei was old and had seen and experienced a lot, she didn't suffer fools gladly, had a rather earthy sense of humor, and best of all, she wanted what was best for Akane.  She had no stake in seeing her married off to Ranma, or broken up with him.  That by itself made her a better confidant than anyone else in her life.  It had been incredibly freeing.  She hadn't realized how much she'd wanted a mentor, someone to guide her training, to guide _her_ until she met her.  She hoped Ranma had found a similar relationship with Ichiro-sensei.  When she'd first thought to bring him to the shrine to investigate his curse, she realized it was an opportunity too great to be missed.  Ranma had always had plenty of people ready to step up and guide his physical training and show him new techniques--but on the emotional side of things, he was as lost at sea as she herself was.  Neither had anyone in their lives to take such a role.  She'd found Chiyo-sensei…and from the few times she'd observed Ranma and Ichiro-sensei together, she thought maybe he'd found something similar. 

_"There, see.  I knew you could do it."_  Ranma suddenly whispered in her ear.  Her control wavered for a moment as she felt his warm breath gusting over her ear and neck.  She shivered, but she managed to hold on to her calm and keep the waterfall firmly in mind.

" _Nice save."_ Ranma snickered, before vanishing onto a higher branch.

 

Akane settled herself firmly on her perch, listening with one ear to Kuno and Kodachi's progress while she let her thoughts wander and maintained the mental waterfall that was hiding her presence.

_"What was that? Ranma sounded sort of…flirtatious just then.  He seems to have suddenly gotten some confidence in such things.  Though, I suppose the last twenty four hours could explain that.  We had another 'moment' during our sparring match, then I made him dance with me with his shirt off.  After that we were in that tournament and he literally had his hands all over me for a couple of hours--the fact that we were in a big group of people doing the same thing helped it seem impersonal, which helped a lot.  Then I fell asleep on him on the flight over, woke up with his arms around me…and all I did was apologize for drooling on his shirt.  Before, I would have screamed, punched or pelted him to the moon for getting too close to me.  Just letting things happen and acting like it's normal probably helped a lot with letting him feel confident in approaching me.  When I look back… I'm a little amazed he stuck around and seemed to actually want to be with me…  Well, sometimes he did.  He really was a jerk sometimes.  I can't really take all the blame…and there were extenuating circumstances.  Ranma was likely sexually confused already because of his curse, and he didn't exactly have any role models for what a normal relationship between a man and woman was supposed to be like… though, with mom dying so young, I really didn't either.  Add in my awakened spiritual powers, and it's no wonder it was such a mess.   I can still remember what a relief it was to have an explanation for my complete fear of sexuality and intimacy…_

**_"Oh, you poor child.  If even half of what you tell me you experienced was true, it's really no wonder you're wound tight as a spring.  Miko training usually started young, before puberty, for this very reason.  When you tap into your spiritual powers, without proper training, you leave yourself wide open, and you're likely to be more sensitive to people's auras to begin with.  Adolescence is a time of confusion and embarrassment for even the most well-adjusted youngster…but it's usually also a time of joy and discovery.  For you, wide open and sensitive as you were, being so forcefully pelted by so much lust, violence and desire for domination while going through your own sexual awakening…  I would have been surprised if you hadn't developed problems in that area.  Don't worry though, child, we can fix this.  It will take time, and dedication, a lot of soul searching…and I'm sorry to say, a whole lot more time in the waterfall…but, if you stay the course, one day you'll be able to take that young stallion of yours for the ride of his life!  How's that for motivation? Eh? I'll tell you, were I a few decades younger, Hoo boy!  Don't look at me like that, girlie! I'm old, not dead!  Have you seen the tushie on that young fellow? Forget about coins, you could probably bounce boulders off those ass-cheeks!"_ **

_"Yep.  That's Chiyo-sensei for you.  I nearly died the next time Ranma showed up and she pretended she was going to pinch his butt when he wasn't looking…not to mention damned Midori egging her on.  "Do it, sensei! Do it for all of us!  Tell us what it's like to touch a piece of heaven!"  Hah! And all this time I thought it was only men that were perverts…_

_It just figures that all my hard work finally pays off and I get knocked back to being sixteen again and too young to reap all the benefits!  I don't want us becoming parents while we're still in school…not to mention I wanted a year or two to make up for lost time before we added any new additions to the mix.  Damn it all.  Geez.  Listen to me.  Now I sound like a pervert._

_No.  I've got to stop thinking like that.  It isn't perverted if I want him…or if he wants me.  It's only pushing yourself on someone unwilling.  Kuno's a pervert, Ranma isn't.  Well mostly… he always was just a little too willing to don a skimpy outfit and fling himself at guys.  Always with a purpose, but still…_

_He was a girl when we had our 'moment'.  Could that be the source of his newfound confidence?  I told him I always saw him, no matter what form he was in…and I could tell, by the way he reacted that it was something that bothered him and that he needed to hear…but being told something and experiencing it are two very different things."_

 

She focused back in on the mission when she realized Kuno and Kodachi were arguing with someone and it was getting heated.  It was hard to tell what was going on because they were both shouting and speechifying and the sound of their voices were drowning out one another as well as any background sounds that would give them more context.

"Crap.  They must know the rest of us are here, the place looks like a kicked-over anthill!" Ukyo exclaimed. 

"There's gotta be a hundred of them!" Ranma muttered.

"Leave them to me.  I have the most experience with crowds.  They're just mooks, that's why there's so many of them.  The dangerous guys will be by themselves or in small groups.  The rest of you find Kuno, Kodachi and Sasuke.  I'll hold these guys off." Akane decided.  She was tired of worrying about her personal life.  A nice, relaxing battle with ninjas was just what she needed. 

She glanced up and caught Ranma glaring at her, but she didn't wait around for him to stop her.  She launched herself towards the courtyard with a smile of anticipation on her face, landed in their midst and started kicking ass.

Most of them took her at her word and headed for the main building, where they'd seen Kuno and Kodachi go earlier.  Ranma hung back for a bit to watch Akane's progress worriedly, but he soon realized that she was exactly correct--the guys were mooks, and not really a challenge for her beyond there being so many of them. 

It went against all his instincts to leave her behind, but she was doing alright…and seemed to be having fun.

He gritted his teeth and hurried after the rest of them. 

 

 

 

"Uh, guys? Why are you all just standing here?" Ranma wondered when he caught up.

"There three hallway.   What ribbon girl say? French vase or something." Shampoo mused.

"There's a vase over there." Ukyo pointed.

"Fool, that Chinese."

"There's a vase at the end of the hall there.  Might that be it?" Konatsu noted, heading in that direction.

Ukyo shrieked when a panel opened up in the ceiling and a ninja dropped down nearly on top of her.  "Keep going and find the others.  I've got this!"

The rest of them tore down the hallway and took the corner at a fast clip.

"These floor tiles are nice, but I don't know that I would call them exquisite." Konatsu noted again as they hurried down the next hallway.

"No, but those are."  Mousse pointed down another hallway.

"Oh! They is nice.  Very pretty." Shampoo agreed.

Another hidden panel opened, this time in the floor, and a ninja popped out in their midst.  Mousse wasted no time wrapping the guy in chains.

"Keep going.  I've got him!"

Ranma, Shampoo and Konatsu continued running.

"Anyone see any charming chandeliers?"

"No, I just see stupid candle." She suddenly dropped to the floor and slid under a ninja that came popping out of a panel in the wall.

"Shampoo get tear in new pants.  Shampoo kill!" the girl growled. 

Ranma and Konatsu leapt over the ninja and Shampoo and kept going.

"Oh! Over there! Those chandeliers are charming!" Konatsu pointed.  There were several of them, evenly spaced across the ceiling of a large open hall filled with pillars.  This time three ninjas leapt down.

"Keep going.  I'll be fine." Konatsu said confidently.

"You sure?"

"I'm the genius kunoichi Konatsu Kenzan, I won't lose!" she said confidently.  "Let's see what you're made of!"

Ranma continued to the far end of the hall, kicking one of the ninjas back to Konatsu when he tried to follow him. 

Outside the hall was an open wooden bridge that spanned a narrow ravine with a stream running through it. 

_"I think she said something about the grounds being lovely.  I'm probably headed in the right direction…WHOA!"_

Five ninjas came at him suddenly.  He ducked the sword that tried to decapitate him and managed to get the next guy and send him flying down into the stream, while pulling another guy into the path of a second sword strike.  He leapt off the bridge, and two more jumped after him---though they just landed below, while he grabbed the underside of the bridge, swung across to the other side and popped up behind the last guy and sent him flying into the two guys that originally followed him, catching them as they were leaping back up to the bridge and sending all three back down to the ravine.  He raced towards the far building fighting a running battle with the remaining two guys, just getting them off his back as the bridge ended. 

"Kuno! Kodachi! Sasuke?  Are you guys here?"

"In here, Saotome-san." Came Kodachi's voice from halfway down the hall.  He ran towards it and threw open the paper screen doors with a bang, only to stop dead.

"Nabiki? How the heck did you get here? And before us?  Last I saw you were at the pool!"

"All you fighter types always seem to forget there are such things as modern conveniences.  I came by jeep.  I was hardly going to go slogging through a jungle or up a mountain in this.  Well…the dress I don't really care about.  It's Akane's after all.  The shoes are mine though." she said thoughtfully, extending one of her legs out in front of her and rotating her ankle to show off her expensive-looking black leather pumps.  The middle aged ninja that was in the room along with Nabiki, Kuno and Kodachi giggled, his eyes glued to Nabiki's thigh as her actions made her already short skirt ride up a bit higher.  Ranma shuddered when a small trickle of blood left his nose.  Kuno seemed unable to tear his eyes away either, though he seemed to resent this fact to judge by the glower on his face.

Nabiki, satisfied, crossed her legs and smirked, though Ranma caught a quick resentful glance sent his way that he almost missed.

_"Probably mad I'm not as enthralled with her little show as the other two."_

While he could admit, to himself at least--no way he'd ever do so out loud, that Nabiki was cute and had a nice body, her manipulative personality and predatory nature left him cold.

_"Not to mention I ain't likely to forget any time soon how rude she was when me and pops showed up.  Yeah, they were expecting a father and son, not a girl and her panda, but still.  I might not have much in the way of manners, but I'd never treat a guest like that, not unless they'd done something awful to me first anyway.  There's also the fact that, when given the chance, she passed on me pretty darn quick.  I might not have been real thrilled with the whole arranged marriage thing, but it's still kind of a downer to have two pretty girls want nothing to do with you and pass you off to their sister who wasn't there to say no, while making cracks about both of you.  Sorry, Nabiki, even if you had the greatest legs in the world, I ain't interested."_

"So…you two seem fine.  We all heard you shouting and thought you were being attacked.  What gives?" Ranma said out loud.

"As we approached, we heard Tendo-san here saying some uncomplimentary things about all of us.  We also heard her joking that she half expected to see the place wrecked and piles of bodies everywhere, because her little sister is a violent maniac that hates when people attack her _en masse_ and that she snaps and starts trying her best to break their spines. My brother realized that, in spite of her assertions that the two of them were friends, she set him up to fail when he asked for advice on how best to win the heart of his beloved." Kodachi explained.

"You didn't get a clue when she was screaming about how much she hated boys and punching ya all out every morning?" Ranma asked dryly.

"She told me it was her fantasy and that she was searching for a strong warrior to best her in combat so she would know the future was secure!  I did ask about the screaming, but she assured me her sister was simply bereft that none there were strong enough to best her, and that she was waiting for a man, not a boy!" Kuno was quick to defend himself.

"Geez.  Your own sister.  Don't ya care at all that you were giving her nightmares?" Ranma growled at Nabiki, who just looked back blankly.  "As for you, Blue Blunder, Akane told Mousse if you'd just asked her on a date like a normal person, treated her with some respect and kept yer damned hands to yerself she probably would have said yes…mostly because she didn't know you then, but yeah, you blew it." Ranma laughed, only to frown in annoyance when Kuno's eyes lit with renewed fire.   "Oi! Get that look off your face, man.  That road is closed and you're just going to have to deal.  Akane is mine.  We're not only engaged by agreement of our families, but I won the stupid challenge you laid down as well.  I beat her, I beat you and all the rest of the chumps that were attacking her every morning.  IT'S OVER.'  he turned back to Nabiki with a frown  "And yeah, nice work there, sis.  Because of you our whole plan is all shot ta hell.  None of us were even planning on coming inta this place unless it was necessary to give these two some back-up! Now, everyone's strewn throughout the whole complex battling ninjas, and from the look of it we still don't have Sasuke.  Nice work there!"

_"Ranma? As much as I'm enjoying you verbally smacking-down my sister…a really old lady with a cane just showed up and she does NOT look happy."_  Akane's voice sounded out over everyone's earpiece.

"Oh crap!" Ranma said with feeling.  Everyone knew, when it came to martial arts, the old decrepit folks were the ones you had to watch.

 

 

 

Akane was looking a bit worse for wear when Ranma dropped down beside her.

"Where's the old lady?"

"I don't know.  She's really good at hiding her presence and she's fast.  I think she must have felt you coming and stepped back to asses you before re-engaging."

"Alright, stand back to back. She won't be able to sneak up on us that way."

"Okay."

Ranma only sensed the incoming attack seconds before he blocked and soon found himself unable to worry about much but fending off the old lady.  She seemed to just be testing him at the moment.  Akane was right; she was fast and was nearly invisible as she attacked from seemingly all directions at once. 

_"Damn it.  We've been up all night, except for the naps we caught on the plane, ran through a jungle, climbed a mountain and now this…  This day just keeps getting better and better.  You owe us big time for this, Nabiki."_

 

 

"There you all are! I swear this place is a maze. I'm pretty sure I've been trapped in the walls for the last twenty minutes." Ukyo complained.

"Maze in basement.  Shampoo smash walls till escape."

"Is that what all the explosions I heard were?" Konatsu said with sudden understanding.

"I myself was trapped for a while in the ceiling." Mousse added.  "This whole place is absolutely crawling with ninjas!"

"Well…the fact that it's a secret ninja stronghold would probably account for that." Ukyo said with annoyance.

"Where Ranma and Akane at?" Shampoo wondered.

"Ranma-san continued on alone from here and ran into Nabiki-san and the Kunos, then he went back to the courtyard to help Akane-san. Didn't you hear?"

"My radio got smashed.  Geez, Akane wasn't able to handle the mooks?" Ukyo replied.

"Mine did as well… strange though,  I didn't think those fools were enough to stop her." Mousse said in surprise.

"Everyone small talky thing but girly-boy's get smashed? Aiyah." Shampoo sighed in disgust.  "Is too too bad problem."

"Akane-san handled the mooks just fine.  She didn't ask for back-up until an old lady with a cane showed up." Konatsu explained.

"Ah crap.  An old lady with a cane? That's not good!" Ukyo said worriedly.

"No, is not." Shampoo agreed.

"Do we go forward or back?" Mousse wondered.

"Akane-san and Ranma-san seem to be holding their own for the moment.  All of this has been pointless if we don’t achieve our objective.  I say we go forward and get what we came for, then we can go lend assistance if it is still needed." Konatsu suggested.

"Let's go then." Ukyo agreed.

The four of them charged across the bridge, seeing signs of Ranma's passage and earlier fight.  When the reached the far building they saw a number of ninjas leaving a room halfway down and speeding off, so they headed there and peeked in, seeing only a middle-aged ninja who seemed to be nervous and sweating.  As they watched, other ninjas came in through the window and were sent off with orders to clean up before "mom" saw anything.  When they were gone, he glanced up, then grimaced when he saw the four of them.

"You're the last of the invaders, I hope? Listen, I got earlier that this was all some big misunderstanding, so here's what we're going to do.  When my mom shows up you're all gonna tell her that you came here at my invitation as part of a training exercise, got it?"

"But we not here for training exercise.  We here to smash all ninjas and get small monkey man back so stick boy and annoying laugh girl go away." Shampoo objected.

"Is your mom by chance an old lady with a cane?" Ukyo asked.

"Yep.  She took a nap and left me in charge, you guys invaded.  I'd like to keep living, so we're going to play things my way, got it?"

"Ranma-san, Akane-san, did you get that?"

" _Yeah. Training.  Woo-hoo."_

_"Busy trying not ta die."_

 

 

Ranma and Akane both eyed the old lady warily when she leapt back from them and frowned.

"Training?"

They traded a side glance and carefully relaxed their stances while keeping an eye out for any sudden movements.

"Yeah, the uh, training exercise your son organized to test the security here." Akane agreed brightly.  "That's why we're here."

"Yeah…it's what we do, uh, test security." Ranma nodded.

"They call us the Nerima Wrecking Crew."

"It's our professional name."

"We're not well known yet, outside of our hometown."

"Your uh, son, thought it was a good idea to test everyone."

"We showed up a bit earlier than he was expecting, but then, you don't get a good test if everyone knows you're coming.  He wanted to prove that he was taking his future leadership role seriously and thinking of the future…but you didn't hear that from me." Akane confided.

The old lady huffed and ground her cane into the ground angrily.  "That idiot.  He's supposed to TELL me things like this.  I was just about ready to put you youngins into an early grave."

"It's good you didn't.  That would have cost you extra." Akane managed to keep her voice even.

"Yeah…there's ah, um, hazard pay clause.  Dangerous work, testing security." Ranma agreed.

"It would have been far more dangerous if there was anything but trainees and my idiot son here."

"Like I said, we showed up earlier than he was expecting.  Would you like our report?" Akane asked brightly.

"Let's go find my idiot son and get this over with so I can get back to my nap." the old lady groused.  She tapped her cane on the ground three times and made a hollow 'boom' as it struck ground.  "GET UP YOU LAYABOUTS AND CLEAN THIS PLACE UP!" she suddenly roared.

The groaning mooks peeled themselves off the ground lined up in neat rows filling the courtyard and kow-towed in unison.

"YES, LEADER!"

The old lady 'hmpfed' and bounded over the rooftops.  Ranma and Akane traded a look and followed her.

"You get all that?" Akane said quietly into her mike.

"Loud and clear." Konatsu assured her.  "By the way, Sasuke-san is safe and sound.  He was cleared of charges before we got here, but word didn't get to us in time.  Kuno-san and Kodachi-san went to fetch him.  They'll meet us back at their grandfather's place later.  He was visiting relatives when we arrived.  He hasn't seen them for a while."

"Well, at least some good came of this whole mess." Akane sighed, considerably relieved.

 

 

 

 

 

"We're home."

"Ah, we were wondering where all of you were.  Nabiki got back a while ago."

"Yeah.  We know." Ukyo growled.

"Would you all like some tea?" Nodoka inquired, seeing how tired everyone looked.

"That would be great, mom." Ranma nodded.  Nodoka rose to go fetch it.

"Kasumi, is Nabiki in?"

"Yes.  She's in her room."

"Could you call her down, please?"

Kasumi looked at all their grim faces and rose without a word.  Soun and Genma, sensing the tension in the air, set aside their shogi game to sit at the table and eyed the six youngsters lined up on the engawa with a probing eye.  Their faces were drawn with exhaustion, and they all bore signs of having been in a prolonged fight.  They also looked rather dusty and windblown.

Nabiki, when she finally came sauntering down, in contrast, looked cheery and well-rested.

"Just getting back? Took you long enough." she said with a smirk.  All six simply looked at her with stony faces.

"Ukyo and Konatsu need to be getting back to the restaurant.  We want the payment for our 'security investigation'.  Now." Akane said.

"All six-hundred thousand yen of it." Ranma added.

Nabiki just laughed.  "I don't think so."

"I don't think mercenary girl laugh so much with broken legs." Shampoo mused.  "Obstacles is for killing…people who cheat Shampoo of hard earned money, leave her stranded, they die too…but slowly."

Nabiki kept her cool, but she was actually getting nervous.  Konatsu was sharpening a dagger, Mousse was calmly attaching a glove with long, razor-like talons to his hand.  Ukyo and Ranma were glaring…and Akane was smiling, but she seemed to be radiating her own personal cold front. 

_"Pfh.  I'm letting them play me.  What are they going to do? Daddy and the others aren't going to let them so much as bruise me."_

She slouched indolently and rested her chin on her hand and grinned at all of them.

Akane's eyes lit with malice and her smile widened.  Nabiki's narrowed slightly in response, wondering what was going through mind.

Akane pulled a letter out slapped it down on the table, then slid it to her father, keeping her eyes on her sister.  Soun frowned and took it.

Nabiki stayed in her relaxed pose, but her eyes flicked to watch her father.  He paled as he read the letter, and then gave a whole body flinch when he got to the second page.  He folded the letter back up, set it down in front of him and crossed his arms.

"Nabiki.  Get them their money."

Nabiki sat up and opened her mouth to argue, but he cut her off before she could.

"Now."

Genma filched the letter and had much the same response as Soun had, though he whistled rather than flinched at the second page.  Nabiki darted her glance around and realized she had no support in the room.  Scowling, she rose and stomped out of the room, returning several minutes later with a handful of money which she tossed scornfully to her little sister.

Akane sneered back, took it and calmly counted through it.

"The rest of it."

"It's all there.  Minus my fee."

"I don't think so.  You ruined our plan, which might have endangered Sasuke's life and made our whole rescue operation pointless. We were already up all night, slogged through a forest, climbed a mountain and fought an entire ninja clan…then we went back to Kuno's grandpa's place and he was all but ready to declare a blood feud on us because of your little 'shopping trip'. How did you even get hold of his credit cards? And why did you think he was going to let you get away with it?!  I had to spend an hour on my knees _apologizing_ to get him to back down and _keep him from disowning your childhood friend!_ **Then** , we got to the airport, only to discover that you'd taken the charter plane back alone and left us **stranded in Shikoku**.  We had to ride back on top of the train!  It takes _seven hours_ from there to here.  We are exhausted, irritable and damned fed up with you right now! **NOW GIVE ME THE REST OF IT.** "

Nabiki glared and dug out the rest and tossed it across the table, before stomping off again, but this time her father stopped her.  He took the second page of the letter he'd gotten and handed it to her.

"You're getting a job and paying that off."

Nabiki snatched it from his hand and stormed off.

Akane gave each member of the team a hundred-thousand yen. 

Konatsu got teary eyed and stared at the money in awe before carefully tucking it away.

Ukyo took hers with a smile, a wink and a 'thanks, sugar!'

Mousse and Shampoo took theirs with a tired nod, tucked it away.

Ranma looked at the money thoughtfully and gave it back to Akane, who nodded and tucked their combined finances away.

"I'll have to stop by the bank after school tomorrow, I guess."

"I no can till two days from now.  Busy at work." Shampoo sighed.

"I was going to grab a few things for dinner.  If you have a deposit slip, I can drop it off for you." Kasumi offered.  Akane smiled genuinely for the first time since she'd been home.

"Thanks, sis.  That would be a big help."

"That would be a kindness, Kasumi-san.  My thanks as well." Mousse nodded gratefully.

"Both too-too nice.  Where other one come from?" Shampoo muttered. 

"You know, after the day and night we've had, we should go out someplace and celebrate our good fortune." Ukyo mused as she and Konatsu climbed tiredly to their feet.

"Sounds good ta me." Ranma agreed.  "After we sleep though."

"Yeah.  Lots of sleep." Akane agreed.

"We sing karaoke and go to nightclub." Shampoo added around a yawn.

"Sounds like a plan." Ukyo nodded.


	10. Chapter 10

"It's so nice, isn't it, having the dojo full of students once more?" Kasumi said cheerfully. "It's good to see daddy taking an interest in things again."

"It really is…but at the same time, I guess I've been spoiled these last few years. I'm used to having the place free whenever I wanted it. Now, I have to plan around daddy and uncle's classes." Akane agreed as she listened to the sounds of a class in progress drift out from the dojo.

"Uncle seems much more enthusiastic about holding down a job now that he's going to be overseeing classes and not cleaning and doing errands. Auntie is going to be holding classes as well, once a week." Kasumi noted.

"That was actually my idea. She has so many talents, and she is a very good teacher. She has the patience of a saint. I should know." Akane said with wry self-deprecation.

"She's quite excited about it and already making plans. She's had several people sign up already."

"Really? Good. I'm happy for her. Is she going to be doing embroidery or painting? She hadn't decided when I suggested it."

"Embroidery. Nabiki got her a deal on a bulk purchase of supplies which they're going to sell to the students when they sign up for retail cost or something. She said it will make a profit while making it easier for her students to get the things they need."

"How much did she charge her?"

"Ten percent of the profits." Kasumi admitted.

"We need to keep an eye on her. She gets so enthusiastic at the thought of making a few yen… the dojo is full of vulnerable children. She'll have them working in a sweatshop for her given half a chance." Akane said, only half-joking.

"They might still be too young to turn much of a profit for her. I think they'll be okay for a few years yet. That reminds me. I got a strange call earlier for the "Nerima Wrecking Crew". They have a job for you. They left a number for you to get the details from."

"Wow. Really? I guess I made a good move leaving a name and contact number with those monkey ninjas. They must have spread the word about our security test. Neat."

Kasumi dug the message out of her apron pocket and handed it over.

 

"So why are we having a meeting, anyway?" Ukyo wondered. There were only a few people in the restaurant at the moment, so the six of them were gathered at the grill to have a quick chat.

"Kasumi got a call earlier. We've got another security test job if you all want in." Akane informed everyone.

"What? Really? Count me in. We made more on that ninja fight than in a month of waitressing." Shampoo said excitedly. "If we keep getting jobs like this I might quit."

"Yes, we did. Count me in as well." Konatsu said eagerly.

"This is a change for you, sugar." Ukyo said with some surprise. "You never used to care about money."

"I was able to buy back a lot of stuff I sold to the pawn shop over the years because of that ninja job. I was expecting it to take months, if not years longer!"

"I got what information I could and then started making plans. Our test is set for two weeks from now. In the meantime, we've got work to do. Konatsu, I need you to see if you can track down more radios to take the place of the ones that got wrecked. That'll be your job. I got an advance on our payment to cover that and transportation. Shampoo, Mousse, the two of you and I are going to be making an early visit to the place to get the layout. It turns out they have public tours three days a week to raise extra money." Akane interjected.

"Why us three?" Mousse wondered.

"We're going to be Chinese tourists."

"I'll do your hair before we go. Good thing we've been working on your speaking skills or no one would ever believe it. " Shampoo noted.

"Whatever it takes. Your Japanese has improved a lot as well." Akane nodded.

"I can also do a fly-over in my alternate form, which should help." Mousse offered.

"Good idea." Shampoo agreed.

"So what are me and Ranchan doing?" Ukyo wondered.

"We're gonna be learning a secret Saotome technique from pops." Ranma replied.

"Really? He's going to teach me a secret family technique?"

"You're part of the family, aint ya? That was the deal I made with him. He didn't even really wanna teach me it, but he agreed it'd come in handy when I told him about our job. He wants in on any other jobs we get for doing it though."

"Why was he so opposed to teaching it?" Ukyo asked, sounding nervous. When one considered all he'd done to Ranma over the years in the name of training, she thought she had good reason to be wary.

"He'll explain that tonight. Family only. We're gonna seal the dojo and everything." Ranma explained, rolling his eyes.

"I'll be there after we close up."

Akane and Nodoka settled down outside the dojo with the first aid kit to wait. Akane grinned slightly at the sign Genma had put up outside the door. "TOP SECRET SAOTOME TRAINING IN PROGRESS DO NOT ENTER". She knew from the last time this had happened--without Ukyo--that they were going to be awhile, so she pulled out some knitting to occupy herself while they waited, though the sight of the scarf she was making just depressed her.

"Something wrong, dear?" Nodoka asked

"I made Ranma a scarf before. It was the most awful looking thing. Looking back I'm embarrassed to have ever let it be seen. He wore it anyway. He said no one else would be dumb enough to wear such a monstrosity and put it around his neck when I tried to take it back." she smiled nostalgically. "I wanted to give him an actual nice scarf this time, but I've already ruined it. Look."

"Don't be so hard on yourself, dear. It's easy enough to drop stitches, even when you've been doing it for awhile. You don't need to unravel it either. It's easy enough to fix. Go ahead and continue. When you get to where the hole is, stop, and I'll show you how."

"Really? I don't have to start over? I wish I knew that before. This is the third time I've started this dumb thing."

"Do you have more yarn in that color? I could start on some matching mittens."

"Yeah, I have lots. I know I mess up this kind of thing, so I wanted to be prepared."

Nodoka fetched her own knitting needles and started on a mitten, showing Akane what she was doing while she continued working on her scarf, and put her lessons in rescuing dropped stitches to good use.

"We need to plan out a nice celebratory feast. Don't say anything for the moment, but Kasumi-chan will be making a special announcement this weekend." Nodoka giggled.

"Are she and Dr. Tofu…?"

Nodoka grinned and nodded.

"I don't believe her! She still hasn't said a word about them dating…I had to hear it from Ucchan and Ko-chan of all people! You'd think she could have said _something._ Ranma and I went to a lot of trouble to get them together too!" Akane griped.

"You did?"

"Yeah. I told Ranma I wanted to play matchmaker and…" she explained. "He even gave it a name. Anything Goes School of Martial Arts Special Technique: Love Ninjutsu, Precipice of Love Lost." she laughed. "The dummy. I told him it was a bit of a mouthful, but he figured since it was a sneak attack it was never going to need to be shouted in battle or anything, so the name could be as long as we wanted."

Nodoka covered her mouth as she started chortling. "Is that what was going on? Genma told your father about it. He was very confused."

"I can imagine. We were so involved in what we were doing, I'm not even sure how long Kasumi was standing there or how much she saw. Oh well. Still, you'd think she'd be at least a little grateful. I know the neighbors are. He was dangerous when she was around. We performed a public service!"

"It's never been her way to directly interfere in others relationships. Perhaps she just wanted the same consideration."

"I'm not exaggerating when I say we performed a public service. The neighbors used to call ahead to warn patients that she was on her way. Everyone would run out of the place when they saw her coming. Maybe she wanted him to get up the courage to face her on his own, but he actually needed a kick in the pants to get the ball rolling. We haven't interfered beyond that, and we wouldn't have. Ranma didn't even want to do that much until I explained things. I certainly never planned to do more than we did. I know all too well how badly well-intentioned interference can go. If I'd known all it took was saying 'yes, we agree to be engaged' and then yelling at them, I would have done so last time, believe me."Akane grumbled.

"Your relationship was going so poorly though. We just wanted to encourage you two to bond."

"Our relationship was actually mostly fine. Sometimes we genuinely fought and said a lot of rotten things to each other because we were hurt or angry or whatever…. But a lot of the time it was in self-defense against all the meddling. Every time we actually were bonding or having a moment, we'd look up and the whole family was there watching, filming us and eating popcorn like we were a movie or something. It was embarrassing! And then all the wedding talk would start, so we'd start screaming at each other until everyone went away, convinced the show was over. For people as eager for grandchildren as you all are, you very nearly made it so you'd never have any. I sometimes think, even if the wedding had succeeded, we would have never felt relaxed enough to actually act like it. It kind of kills the mood when you look up and find your whole family watching, you know."Akane muttered, face red.

Nodoka seemed a little nonplussed by this. "Was it really that bad?"

"Four years and we'd never kissed. It was interrupted Every. Single. Time."

"But things are going better this time?" she asked hopefully.

"Well… yes. We definitely get along better."

"No kissing though?"

"Not yet."

Akane bit her lip and glanced around to be sure they were still alone.

"I think he's trying to torture me, actually."

"What do you mean?"

"Well…ever since the dance contest he keeps, well, doing things."

"Like what?"

"Comes up behind me and says stuff directly into my ear. If I have my hair up he runs his thumb down the back of my neck. I keep running into him without his shirt on and stretching… "

Nodoka's eyes sparkled as she clasped her hands beneath her chin. "He's _seducing_ you! Oh! My son is so _manly!_ "

She suddenly clasped Akane's hands in her own and looked at her hopefully.

"Is it working?"

"Mom" she said with grave seriousness "I told you he was torturing me. What do you think?"

Nodoka squealed happily and embraced her.

The sound of the door opening drew them apart. Genma stood framed within with his arms crossed in his 'wise-old master' stance. Akane had to give the man props; he pulled it off amazingly well, even if you knew what an imbecile he could be at times. Nodoka, already emotional from her son's manliness, seemed to be hit with a 'manliness overload' upon spotting her husband. Akane glanced between the two of them and ducked her head to busy herself putting away their knitting projects. She didn't want to watch her in-laws have eye sex; it was just wrong. She did her best not to cringe when Genma's voice came out a bit hoarse when he finally spoke.

"The lesson has ended. You may attend them now."

Akane grabbed the first-aid kit and fled inside as soon as he cleared the doorway. It was just like she remembered last time. Ranma and Ukyo were both out cold, stripped to their skivvies and had bruises all over. Akane settled herself near Ranma's head, leaving Ukyo to Nodoka. She knew they'd both be fine, so she wasn't worried, though she still hated seeing either of them in this condition.

She ran her fingers through Ranma's hair for a few minutes before digging out the bruise balm, handing some to Nodoka. Even the first time around she'd never minded tending to Ranma when he was hurt. It gave her a chance to be close to him, to touch him without drawing an audience. Ranma usually hid out in the dojo when he was injured since it usually meant a fight or confrontation had gone badly and he wanted to both nurse his wounded pride, hide his injuries and figure out a way to win. She had a lot of memories of the two of them in the quiet of the dojo taking care of each other at times like that. She never liked him being hurt, but they were still good memories.

"Oh. This stuff is very good. I can practically see the bruises disappearing already. Where did you get it?"Nodoka asked.

"I made it, actually. When I say that Chiyo-sensei is old school, I really mean it. She says the miko often acted not only as shamans and guardians and spiritual warriors, but also as healers once upon a time. She teaches her students everything and she has a lot of old recipes that have been handed down for generations. There are gardens at the shrine that we tend and harvest so we can learn to make all sorts of healing balms and ointments. I don't know if you noticed, but I've been adding plants to the grounds little by little. They're all cuttings from the shrine that I've grown in pots until I had several of each ready for transplanting. I have a good stock of everything I know how to make stored away. When the plants bloom in spring and summer I'll be able to make more just from what we have on the grounds."

"That was good thinking."

"I probably would have done it anyway, but that was also part of training. Chiyo-sensei is very serious about making sure the traditions and knowledge don't die with her. She's very exacting. We had to each promise to train at least one student in the lore to be sure that there will be qualified women to continue on in the coming generations. It's a favorite lecture of hers, preserving knowledge and honoring tradition. _Girls,_ " she always says " _You must always remember this. The world changes, that's inevitable, and people find new ways of doing things. Most call this progress and celebrate how modern and advanced we've become. Sometimes they're right to do so. Just because something is the way we've always done it doesn't mean it is always the best way. The thing is, people are sometimes too quick to throw away all old knowledge. There are shrines all over this great land of ours that have no qualified people to tend them and that has to change. They've turned spiritual training into a college credit course! If you sign up and pay the fees you get the training, tidied up and modernized of course. They don't bother checking to see if the people taking their classes actually have a lick of power to them, just sit them in a classroom, give them a diploma and call them a priest. **Numbskulls**_."

Akane laughed lightly as she began tending to Ranma's bruises.

"It's funny, looking back now. I used to be one of those modern people. Yeah, I studied martial arts, but otherwise I considered myself very much a modern girl. I certainly didn't believe in magic…at least not till it came crashing through our door. Look at me now. I'm working and studying to be a shrine maiden, still practicing martial arts, battling ninjas on the weekends, fighting oni in the local park… in an arranged marriage, in this day and age."

"Is it really such a terrible thing?" Nodoka asked quietly.

"No. It's not terrible at all. Ranma and I might never have met otherwise. If that had happened I think… No. I _know_ I would have spent my whole life feeling like something was missing and never knowing what it was. I never told anyone but…the first time we met, the first time around… It was a really weird day. First daddy called us all down to tell us he was handing us off to a boy he knew nothing about, then a panda with an angry girl over his shoulder came into the house…then daddy was crying and we had to put him to bed and Nabiki was being so _rude_ … I was really embarrassed at how everyone was acting. I couldn't stand it anymore so I scolded Nabiki and put my hand on Ranma's shoulder and said _'Hi, I'm Akane, do you want to be friends?_ " When he turned and looked at me and smiled it was like something clicked into place and I remember thinking that it was like one of those 'fated meetings' from the stupid manga Nabiki likes to read. I never believed in that kind of thing until then. I just knew at that moment that we were going to be best friends our whole lives… Of course, not long after I found out he was a boy not a girl and we were engaged and started fighting… but it still ended up being true. It's kind of funny now that I look back on it. Our dads and our other suitors were all convinced we hated each other… and yet none of them ever questioned that we spent all of our time together. We were pretty much joined at the hip 24-7 most days. So no…if the choice was between an arranged marriage and never meeting him at all, I'd take the arranged marriage any time. It's just that, I was fighting for months against a whole horde of boys trying to knock me unconscious to force me to date them…and then one day I was home and my father gave me to a boy I didn't know to force me to marry. I was so busy being resentful about having my choices taken away that, the first time around at least, I never stopped to consider that, if not for the arrangement… I might have missed out on finding my most important person."

Nodoka bit her lip and ducked her head so Akane, who was focused on tending Ranma, wouldn't notice her trying not to laugh. Ranma had woken in time to hear Akane's confession. He stayed limp and continued to act like he was unconscious, but she could see his face was bright red in embarrassment.

_"Ryoga?"_ Ukyo's voice, puzzled and sounding half-asleep, broke the silence of the room.

"Ukyo-chan? You alright there?" Nodoka asked.

"Huh? Where… Ugh. Did anyone get the number of that truck?"

Akane hurriedly put her own hands in her lap when Ranma stirred as well.

"Ucchan? What were you saying about Ryoga?" he asked as he sat up.

Ukyo groaned and pushed herself up as well, then squeaked when she realized how she was dressed. Ranma flushed and turned away while his mom stuffed her into a robe. Akane nudged him and held up one for him as well, which he took with a nod of thanks. Once dressed, Ukyo frowned in puzzlement.

"It's weird. I thought I heard Ryoga talking to me… he said everyone was really worried and I needed to wake up." she looked around at the dojo. "He's not here though, huh?"

"That's weird. Something you want to tell us, Ucchan?" Ranma teased.

Ukyo's face went red and she glared at him. "NO." she insisted, sounding flustered and embarrassed. She was almost immediately pensive once more. "It's just strange though. I thought I felt him sitting next to me. It sounded like he was talking right into my ear. He sounded really sad for some reason… Why would I dream something like that?"

"Ya got me. Hey, you look pretty done in. Why don't you hit the bath first. I can wait."

"You sure, Ranchan? A hot bath does sound nice right now."

"Yeah, go ahead."

"Thanks. I'll try to be quick." she said gratefully.

Nodoka helped her up and the two of them left.

"Something on your mind?" he asked Akane once the others had gone. Akane looked up, shook her head and smiled. She was hardly going to tell him she'd had a similar weird dream some weeks back, though with him telling her to wake up and sounding sad, not Ryoga. It was probably nothing, but it was far too embarrassing to speak of. He'd just tease her like he had Ukyo. In fact, Nodoka was probably grilling her about Ryoga right now.

"Hey, did you…"

"I wonder if…"

"Sorry. You were about to say something?" Ranma asked.

"I was just wondering about Ukyo and Ryoga. There were a couple of times before that you and I thought they were a couple. It usually turned out that they'd just teamed up on some scheme to break us up. I kind of wonder now if she actually had feelings for him and just never let herself think about it because she was engaged to you at the time."

"What about Konatsu? I thought they were a thing."

"I did too, but Ukyo said they had a long talk about things and she's pretty sure she was just grateful to her and made more of it than it was, and she doesn't feel that way about her, so… You were about to say something before I cut you off. What was it?"

She looked up and found Ranma staring at her with an odd look on his face. At her words, he flushed slightly.

"Uh… I forgot what I was gonna say. Probably wasn't important."

The fact that he averted his gaze and started fiddling with his pigtail meant he was nervous…and probably lying. She was now beyond curious about what he was going to say before, but she wasn't going to push. It never worked out well. It was probably a sad commentary on both of them that they'd find it easier to enter a life or death battle than have an honest conversation with one another. They'd been doing better in that respect, but it still wasn't something that came easy to either of them.

"Okay. Sorry for cutting you off then. I guess I should go put this away."

Before she had a chance to move away, Ranma tapped her lightly in the chest with one hand, and swept her legs out from under her with the other, so she ended up draped across his lap. She remembered him doing the same to her once before. It had been after they'd faced the Golden Pair the first time. She'd been teaching Ranma to ice skate, and Mikado Sanzenin had grabbed him (in girl form at the time) and kissed him.

He'd been upset about it and she'd been teasing him about leaving himself wide open, and claimed she herself wouldn't have fallen for such a trick. He'd sent her sprawling across his lap to prove her wrong. It had been fairly early in their relationship. They probably would have kissed if not for the family interrupting them. Looking back, it had been the closest they'd ever been to doing so. All the other fiancées and rivals started showing up right afterwards and they'd usually been too busy fighting and being jealous for it to happen again. Ranma's face was pink and he looked ready to bolt if she so much as frowned at him. She didn't. She reached up to lightly stroke his face and leaned in. Ranma's nervousness melted away, and he leaned in to meet her halfway. Their breath mingled and their lips just barely brushed when

"RANCHAN! THE BATH IS FREEEE!"

They both froze, with barely a hairsbreadth between their lips. Akane began to withdraw, but Ranma tightened his arms around her as he called back "OKAY! THANKS!" When he turned back to her, the look in his eyes made her tremble. There was no hesitation this time as he leaned in to capture her lips with his.

 

 

"So…what's with you two today?" Ukyo asked suspiciously as they approached the high school.

"What do you mean?" Akane wondered.

"You're awfully…happy today."

If anything that was an understatement. Both she and Ranma were practically glowing.

"What? We're not allowed to be in a good mood?"

"No, you are. Why though?"

"Why not? It's a beautiful day." Ranma said cheerfully.

Ukyo glanced around at the overcast, blustery day with a hint of rain and then back at the two of them in disbelief, but they continued to saunter along, glowing with happiness in their own private happy land, holding hands and…

She looked again, and sure enough, they were holding hands. She turned back to face front and sighed. She realized now that there was some part of her that had still been in denial. For all that she'd outwardly accepted that she and Ranma weren't engaged anymore… it was easy to pretend that nothing much had changed really so long as Ranma and Akane continued to act like they had before but with less fighting. This though, this was different. She had scoffed and ignored it when Akane told her she'd stolen her fiancé, that she, unlike the rest of them, actually had him.

It was true though, wasn't it? So many people had tried to come between them for so long, and they'd all been convinced it would be easy to break them up, and yet none of them ever had. She'd even made a wish and reset time, and look at them. The only thing her stupid wish seemed to have done was help them clear away the obstacles. They were still together, and by the look of it, stronger than ever.

_"I knew, what with me being his sister now, that we weren't…couldn't get together. I think some part of me was still expecting him to express some regret, or confess that he wished his mom hadn't of interfered, because now we could never be together… but no. He hasn't… and he won't, will he? He looks at me the same as he did in the future. Buddy Ucchan, sister Ucchan…it's all the same. Oh, who am I even kidding? Even in the future the rest of us knew if we wanted Ranma we had to get rid of Akane first…except anyone who was dumb enough to actually try was looking at an ass-kicking via Ranchan at the very least. We all knew there was no getting him so long as she was in the picture, but none of us could admit to ourselves what that really meant."_

It was eye-opening, to say the least. Without her laws, and her great-grandmother, driving her, Shampoo treated Ranma like an idiot little brother, not the love of her life. With no memory of him saving her from a tumble off a rooftop, Kodachi wasn't obsessed with him. Both of them accepted that he was Akane's man and were fine with it.

" _Even I got over things surprisingly quickly. It's mostly my pride that's still stung. I wanted him to look at me and at least feel a moment's regret for what he could never have…but he didn't. Heck, I kept him and Akane apart the whole time we were in China and on the ride back, talked his ear off, fed him till he was stuffed, did everything I could think of to remind him that I was his cute fiancée… I can't even complain that she got in the way. She kept her distance and let me do it, but it didn't matter at all. I saw the look on his face the first time he laid eyes on her. He never looked at any of the rest of us like that, not even once. And, for all that he was complaining about how he didn't want to get married or anything on the way to China…he spent one night at her house, and the very next day he's telling the world she's his fiancée and beating off hordes for her._ "

She glanced over at the couple again and had to look away. The day was still overcast and blustery, but a patch of blue sky and a golden sunbeam had opened up right over their heads. The two of them were still sauntering along, smiling and swinging their joined hands between them. All it needed was a couple of cute talking animals and they'd be their own Disney movie.

_"Maybe they're soulmates or something. I hope so. I can accept it if it's a fated union. If it is, I never had a chance, but it's no reflection on me. Yeah. I like that. There once was a strong, handsome martial artist with a cute fiancée…but alas, the gods were cruel and gave him an uncute tomboy for a soulmate. Though the cute fiancée was obviously superior in every way, fate decreed that he settle for second best, poor guy. Yeah. That's the ticket."_

She took a deep breath of the chill autumn air and let it back out, setting free the last of her regrets along with it.

_"I have a new mom and a new big brother, good friends, my own business and my whole life ahead of me. Somewhere out there is someone made just for me. I just need to find him, whoever he is. I can't do that so long as I'm still hung up on Ranchan. I'm sick of sharing, of having to beg, manipulate and scheme for even a sad mockery of a date. I want someone that's just mine. Looking back, all those silly little fantasies I had about our perfect life together… it would never have worked, would it? He'd be off battling monsters, rescuing people, going on training trips. Somewhere, the guy I imagined in all my fantasies exists. I just need to find him is all."_

She noticed a shadow quickly growing larger on the ground and leapt away, as did Ranma and Akane, just moments ahead of a huge crater forming in the ground in front of them.

"RANMA SAOTOME, PREPARE TO DIE!"

"Oh hey, it's Ryoga! Hey buddy, long time no see!" Ranma waved cheerfully.

"Your childhood friend, Ryoga Hibiki? The one who forfeited your last fight together by not showing up? I guess you want a rematch, huh?" Akane commented right after.

"W-what?! I did not forfeit!" Ryoga shrieked.

"Hey, man, I waited for you for three days!"

"And when I showed up on the fourth day, you had fled like a coward to Chin---AAAHH!"

People on the school grounds who were watching backed away slowly as Akane made the giant mallet she'd just brained Ryoga with vanish somehow into her clothing. Ryoga peeled his face from the ground and glared at her, wincing and rubbing the lump that had formed on his head.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!"

"Really. Is that any way to talk to a girl?" Akane sniffed.

Ryoga sat there, blinking at all of them stupidly. Things were obviously not going how he'd planned.

"Um…excuse me…but who the hell are you…and why the hell did you hit me?" Ryoga asked through clenched teeth.

"Akane Tendo. Ranma's fiancée. Because you called him a coward when you were the one in the wrong."

"Your fiancée. Heh. You've been off, living the good life…you have a beautiful…if kind of violent and scary girl. How dare you! BECAUSE OF YOU I'VE SEEN HELL!"

"You know…we don't really have time for this right now." Ukyo interjected. "The bell will be ringing any minute now."

Akane pulled out a bottle of water, opened it and and tossed it on Ryoga, who vanished. She plucked up the angrily squealing pig that crawled out of the pile of clothes and tossed him to Ukyo, while she gathered up the clothes and shoes and tucked them into the backpack that was also left behind.

"You, stay hidden and stay quiet. We'll get you some hot water later." she pointed to Ryoga. "We should call Mousse and Shampoo and tell them to come by at lunch time. He'll likely wander off if we leave him to his own devices."

"Works for me." Ranma shrugged, hefting the backpack. "Let's get going before we're late."

 

 

Ukyo was beyond relieved when the lunch bell finally rang. Keeping Ryoga corralled when he was tiny and pissed off was no easier than it was when he was large and pissed off. A glance out the window towards the athletic field showed Mousse waiting. Shampoo arrived as she watched, soaring in on her bike and hurrying over to speak to Mousse, who continued to stand impassively, eyes closed, hands in his sleeves. Ukyo grabbed her lunch and Ryoga.

"Come on, sugar, let's get you changed back."

Ranma joined her outside the boys' locker room with Ryoga's clothing, shoes and umbrella. He took the pig and vanished inside, returning a few minutes later with Ryoga, once again human and dressed.

"That's much better." Ryoga said with some satisfaction, before glaring at Ranma and pointing at him with his umbrella. "Ranma Saotome, prepare to die! Because of you I've…URK!"

Ryoga peeled his face off the floor and glared at Akane, who frowned at him in reproof as she tucked her mallet away once more.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!"

"Language, Mr. Hibiki. I believe we've already been over this. Besides, we haven't time for you and Ranma to play right now. You have to go fight Mousse."

Ranma grinned at him cheerfully and clapped him on the back. "We can catch up later, okay man?" he asked, before taking Akane's hand and swaggering off.

Ukyo grabbed him by the shirt front and began hauling him along. "Come on, jackass. Let's get this show on the road." she told him.

 

As they reached the athletic field, Ryoga looked around in surprise. It looked like the whole school had turned out and were lined up around the edges of the field to watch. The crazy guy who'd hounded him across most of China was standing in the center of the field waiting. A purple-haired girl he vaguely remembered from China was also there, standing to one side. A couple of girls were walking through the crowds taking bets on the outcome of the fight. A pretty girl in a kimono who he also vaguely remembered from China was manning an okonomiyaki cart and selling food to the spectators, alongside a few other food vendors who he didn't recognize. He looked around angrily for Ranma, and finally found him just before reaching the center of the field where the crazy guy was waiting for him. He was off stuffed in a far corner of the field, far from the action. He and his pretty little fiancée were sitting close together, hands entwined, heads close together and seemed to be having a serious heart to heart talk.

"What is he doing over there? What about our man to man fight?"

"Sorry, sug. You can't fight Ranma till after you settle things with Mousse here about which of you gets to marry Shampoo."

"Why would anyone…. Look, I don't know what kind of weirdo you are, but I have no interest in getting freaky with a hair care product!"

"AIYAAAH! I be Shampoo! Beat Shampoo in battle, now we is married by Amazon law! Shampoo ready to go on date, but then stupid husband make Shampoo wander all over China and Japan to look for him! Mousse beat you, and then Shampoo date with Mousse! He might be stupid duck, but at least he no get lost between sky and earth!"

Ukyo pulled a microphone out of somewhere and silenced the crowd.

"ALL RIGHT! QUIET DOWN! WE'RE HERE TODAY FOR THE BATTLE ROYALE--MU TSU VERSUS RYOGA HIBIKI FOR THE HAND OF THE AMAZON WARRIOR, XIAN PU! WINNER WILL BE DECIDED BY DEATH, KNOCKOUT OR CONCESSION!"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, DEATH?!" Ryoga shrieked.

"LOVE IS SERIOUS BUSINESS, MISTER!" Ukyo shouted back. "LET THE FIGHT BEGIN!" She leapt back out of the way, and Mousse into the air.

"DIE, HIBIKI! SHAMPOO WILL BE MINE!"

 

"So…you were strangely violent earlier…"

"I used to be worse." Akane sighed. "I did say I wasn't the same girl you met before. When Kasumi said I was a violent maniac, there was at least a little truth to it… though the way she talks, you'd think I was just rampaging through the streets, randomly attacking people for no reason. I didn't. I beat up bullies…muggers…perverts. I tried to protect people. That's my sisters for you though. Telling people I'm a maniac, or a lesbian. Che!"

Ranma got a slightly odd look on his face. Akane caught the look and got a bit flustered.

"I'm not into girls. You're …different."

_"LOVE IS SERIOUS BUSINESS, MISTER. LET THE FIGHT BEGIN!"_

_"DIE, HIBIKI! SHAMPOO WILL BE MINE!"_

"So…back to Ryoga…"

"I was annoyed with him…but I was also trying to head off him becoming obsessed with me. He said it happened because I was kind to him in pig form, but I'm pretty sure it was actually mostly that we were engaged, and he was trying to take me to hurt you or something. I said I forgave him, and I did…but that doesn't mean I forgot, or that I'm actually alright with all of it. I know this Ryoga hasn't done the things I'm angry about, so I tried to restrain myself. I was mostly hoping to give some negative reinforcement to some of his bad behavior. Hopefully it will head off a year and a half of him showing up pissed off every few weeks and blaming you for every bad thing that ever happened to him. I know about his curse this time around, so he won't be becoming my pet, which should also help."

"Why didn't you know about his curse? Didn't anybody know? I don't see how that could have happened."

"You knew. In fact I think everyone but me knew. Well…I'm actually not sure about Kasumi and Nabiki. I didn't ask. I had a hard enough time accepting that you and my dad both knew and didn't tell me. I let him sleep in my bed like that and…"

"What? And I knew and didn't…"

"You told me you promised yourself on your honor that you wouldn't reveal his curse since you were responsible…the first time around at least…for him having it. You snuck into my room the first night I had adopted him as my pet. I got mad when I woke up and found you there and we fought, but you didn't tell me why you were there. After that though you were actively hiding it from me. You kept him from getting wet in front of me. You tried to argue that I should have figured it out, but I saw him get wet in front of me and not change. It turns out he was covered in waterproof soap. There were a couple of times you were both there and surrounded by water where you changed and he didn't. I never saw him transform, and with you actively hiding it… You said you called him p-chan and pig-boy and stuff, but I always assumed you were just being a jerk and trash talking like you do to annoy people."

"I wouldn't call somebody something they wasn't. That really should have given ya a clue." Ranma scoffed.

"Really? So you really think I'm stupid, ugly, fat, clumsy, worthless, unsexy, have gorilla arms and could never possibly find a husband?"

"Uh…what?"

"You're a lot nicer this time around, enough so that I've begun to wonder if we really traveled to the past or if we're actually in an alternate universe. Oh, you also said only a brain dead lunatic would ever want to kiss me. I was kind of surprised last night for obvious reasons."

"Was I brain damaged or something?"

"I don't know. You tell me. Now granted, it wasn't all one-sided. I said a lot of stuff to you too. Though mostly it was just calling you a jerk or a pervert. I never got creative with it like you did."

"Why do you even still speak to me?"

"Most of the time, if no one else was around we got along fine for the most part. You were my best friend. We got off to a bad start and fought some and were kind of mean to each other, but later the fighting was at least partially in self defense, to keep our crazy suitors from getting violent because they thought we were getting too close, or to make our dads back off when they tried to have yet another shotgun wedding. They actually knocked us both out and stuffed us into wedding clothes at least once. There was a reason I said we needed to both go on the defensive and provide a united front. I sometimes veered between believing you meant every word to thinking you didn't mean any of it. After I found out you knew Ryoga was pretending to be my pet and never told me I leaned towards you meant every word and actually hated me. I came very close to calling our engagement off and meaning it. It wouldn't have really helped you much. It would have still left Kasumi, Nabiki, Shampoo, Ukyo and Kodachi to fight it out amongst themselves."

"But you forgave me?"

"Well…no. We had a big screaming match. Something we hadn't done for a while. I hadn't spoken to you all week, and then I overheard you laughing about how I must have beat up Ryoga in pig form and what an uncute, violent, macho chick I was. I was fed up. With everything. I'd had enough. I kind of went on a rampage and beat Shampoo, Ukyo and Kodachi and left them unconscious in craters all over town, one after the other. Ukyo got the wishing jewel while she was laying in hers. I woke up here. We never actually made up." Akane admitted. "And I'll tell you a secret. I didn't know I was going to get invited to Kiran and Lychee's wedding. When they showed up, I jumped at the chance to go, because it meant I wouldn't be here when you and your dad arrived. I wasn't ready to face you yet. I got a bit of perspective on our whole time together, but I was still a bit raw…and I didn't know if you'd remember or not, plus Ukyo was already here and it seemed like everything was just going to go right back into the same circus it was before, but starting earlier. I couldn't deal, so I fled. I worried after I did that I just screwed myself out of ever getting my best friend back. I've tried really hard to separate stuff you've done from stuff future or alternate universe you has done…it's honestly a lot easier than I thought it would be. We get along so much better…everything is so much better, really."

Akane suddenly shivered. "That feeling… Who…?"

They both turned and found a girl who looked to be their age, wearing the uniform of another high school. She was staring at Ranma like she'd just seen a ghost.

"What's with the starin'?" Ranma demanded.

The girl searched his face, slightly weirding him out, but then tore her eyes away and looked at Akane just as intently. Her hands fisted in her skirt.

"You're a priestess?" she whispered.

"So are you." Akane agreed. "A very powerful one to judge by the strength of the reiki I can sense."

"You can sense that, huh? What am I saying…of course _you_ could." the girl said woodenly.

Her eyes darted between the two of them, taking in their intimate posture, their joined hands and she paled suddenly, even as she pasted an obviously fake cheery smile on her face. Akane half rose from her seat in concern at the fine tremor that seemed to be going through the girl.

"Hey, whoah…are you sick or something? You need help?"

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me." the girl insisted, even as she turned away.

She stumbled a short distance on wooden legs and then broke into a run. They could both hear the beginnings of an anguished sob before she was out of earshot. They both rose to their feet and stared after her.

"That was weird."

"Yeah. Do you know her?"

"No. You?"

"Never saw her before. Should we follow her?"

"Yes. She's really upset, it seems to have something to do with us, which means we should head it off at the pass or it will just come around anyway for us to deal with and there'll be damage to the house or dojo involved."

"Let's go then." Ranma glanced over at the fight as they raced after the fleeing girl. "Oh, hey. Mousse won. Ryoga seems to be down for the count. GOOD GOING, MAN."

"CONGRATULATIONS! WE HOPE YOU'RE BOTH VERY HAPPY TOGETHER!"

"RANCHAN! AKANE! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU TWO GOING?"

"GOTTA HELP A CRYING GIRL. WE'LL EXPLAIN LATER!"

"HEY! GET BACK HERE! DON'T LEAVE ME WITH THIS JACKASS! HEY! MOUSSE! SHAMPOO! WHERE ARE YOU TWO GOING?"

"WE GO ON DATE NOW. MAYBE HAVE HONEYMOON IF DUCK BOY IS LUCKY!"

"SHAMPOOO! MY DARLING!"

"OH, COME ON YOU GUYS!"

"I'M STILL HERE, UKYO-SAMA…SAN."

"I TOLD YOU BEFORE, CALL ME UCCHAN, DAMN IT!"

"I'M SORRY, UKYO-SAN. I CANNOT. PLEASE FORGIVE ME!"

 

 

"OOOF!"

The crying girl ran full tilt into Ranma when he suddenly landed in front of her, bounced off and went staggering back. Luckily Akane had landed behind her, so she was able to grab the girl by the shoulders and steady her.

"Wha… How?"

"We followed ya from the rooftops. You run pretty fast." Ranma commented as Akane moved around the girl to stand beside him.

"Please forgive us for prying…but we couldn't help but notice that you seem to be in some distress. It might help to talk about whatever is bothering you. We're good listeners if you'll let us."

The girl ducked her head in embarrassment and tried to unobtrusively wipe away her tears. She took the handkerchief Akane offered her, her face red at the thought of what a spectacle she was making of herself. When her face was dry and she thought she could speak without the words choking her, she faced them again.

"It's very kind of you to offer…but I can't. I lived it, and I'm starting to wonder if I just imagined it all. It's all just too unbelievable. You'll both just think I belong in a loony bin."

At that moment a car whizzed by, hit a small random puddle that just happened to be in the street and splashed Ranma, who promptly shrank a foot, grew breasts and red hair.

"DAMN IT ALL TO HELL! THANKS A LOT, YOU JERK!"

Akane winced slightly as Ranma began cursing under his breath and wringing out his hair and clothing, then smiled brightly at the now very-shocked crying girl.

"Try us. We'll believe more than you think." She smiled then and clapped her hands together "So…who wants ice cream?"

"Oooh! I do!" Ranma immediately raised his hand.

"Uh…sure. Ice cream sounds good." the girl agreed hesitantly, still staring at Ranma.

"I just realized…here we are, butting in to your business and we never even bothered to introduce ourselves. "I'm Akane Tendo, and this is my fiancé, Ranma Saotome."

"Fiancé? But…"

"Hey! I'm still a guy, alright?!"

"I'm Kagome Higurashi. Nice to meet you."

 

 

"It's always so depressing going places with him in girl form." Akane sighed ruefully. "He's completely shameless…and it works, that's the really infuriating part."

"Yet he claims to still be a boy?" Kagome said hesitantly.

"It's a curse. He started out as a boy, thinks of himself as a boy…sometimes when he's like this I wonder a bit how much the curse affects him, but it's kind of a sensitive subject for obvious reasons. He's kind of a macho guy, and he's really touchy about being 'unmanly'…his dad kind of did a number on him when he was growing up. I think really, as much as he hates his curse sometimes, it was kind of a relief at the same time. It gives him an excuse to act out without consequences. He can enjoy a parfait without teasing, enjoy cute things, cry… and it's okay because it's not really him."

"Inuyasha was the same way….though his problem was sort of the opposite. He was half dog-demon. Half-demons were looked down on by humans and demons both. He hated being human, looked down on them because they'd been cruel to him and his mother, and then his mother died and left him alone when he was still very young… Half-demons, on one night of the month turn completely human. It's just a thing that happens. He hated it because he couldn't hear or see as well, he wasn't as strong or as fast… It was dangerous and he hated being weak and helpless. He wanted to be a full demon, so he'd be strong and never be helpless again. The thing was, the few times his demon blood overwhelmed his human blood, he was mindless and destructive. He learned to hate and fear his demon blood for a while there…"

"Oi! You haven't started without me, have you? Hiroshi here gave us three on the house! Tee hee!" Ranma did a cutsey pose and batted his eyes at the pimply teen running the counter at the ice cream shop.

Said teen flushed red as he set down three parfaits, then straightened and rubbed the back of his neck giggling maniacally.

"O-oh, it's nothing! Such cute girls shouldn't pay for ice cream!"

"Aw, you're so sweet! Thanks, Hiroshi-kuuun!" Ranma chirped, slapping him on the back, and nearly sending the kid flying.

"Yes, thank you, Hiroshi-san. You won't get in trouble for this, will you?" Akane asked worriedly.

"Oh, no. My dad owns the shop. It's fine." Hiroshi wheezed. Ranma's playful slap had knocked the wind right out of him.

"In that case, thanks." Kagome added.

Ranma batted his eyes again, and began devouring his parfait with gusto. Hiroshi flushed red and began giggling again.

"Oh, goodness, it looks like you have other customers." Akane got his attention.

"Huh? Oh…right. I'll see you around sometime?"

"Maybe! You never know!" Ranma chirped.

_"Completely shameless."_ Akane hissed once Hiroshi was out of earshot.

"Works, don't it? Don't complain, I got us all free ice cream." Ranma quipped back, sticking his tongue out. "So, what're you talking about?"

"Kagome-chan was just telling me about…Inuyasha, was it? It's funny…that names sounds familiar…" Akane trailed off in thought and then her eyes widened. "When did you meet Inuyasha?" she asked intently.

"Five hundred years ago." Kagome admitted quietly.

"The bone-eater's well?" Akane demanded.

"Yes. How did you know that?"

"Chiyo-sensei told all of us the stories about it. You're _that_ Kagome."

"Who is this Chiyo-sensei and how does she know about me?"

"The stories were passed down in her family. She's in charge of training all the miko at the shrine I work at. Her ancestors passed down the stories about the battles they were in and their friend Kagome the time traveler."

"What were their names?"

"Miroku and Sango. It's part of the reason Chiyo-sensei is so hard core about preserving knowledge and training up priests and miko that actually have spiritual powers. She knows what's possible, and wants to make sure there are people who can actually do what needs doing to keep all the weird magic and trapped demons that are stockpiled in shrines all over from spilling out and running amok."

"So, what are these stories she told you?" Ranma asked.

"About Kagome here. She's the reincarnation of a priestess named Kikyo from 500 years ago, the guardian of the shikon no tama-- the jewel of four souls. A demon lord named Naraku…"

"He wasn't a demon lord. He started out as a creepy thief, a human. He let his soul be devoured by hundreds of demons so he'd have the power to punish Kikyo for not being his. She was already in love with Inuyasha. He was offended by that or something and decided to trick them and destroy their relationship to punish them. He made them each believe the other had betrayed them. She was wounded and died, but not before sealing Inuyasha to the God tree. She was burned with the jewel and it disappeared from the world…until I was born 500 years later. The jewel was in my side. I fell into the Bone Eater's well one day…and I got attacked by a demon, Madame Centipede. I ended up tumbling back in time. 50 years had passed. Inuyasha was still pinned to the tree. I ended up releasing him so he could help me against Madame Centipede. She tore the jewel out of my side, and later a three-eyed crow demon stole it. I shot an arrow to try to bring down the crow, but instead, I shattered the jewel. Shards spread out all over the country, and empowered the demons that got hold of them. My friends and I traveled for months collecting all the shards… but Naraku was still out there and he was collecting them as well. He sent all sorts of demons after us, many of them pieces of himself that he broke off…. We all went through so much together. Naraku came so close to winning, but we managed, barely, to prevail in the end. The jewel is gone. I purified it and made the right wish to make it disappear for good. The passage through the well is closed. I'm…. I'm never going to see him again. I'm never going to see Inuyasha again… He's been reborn and so has Kikyo…into the two of you."

"I thought you were Kikyo's reincarnation? Isn't that what you said?" Ranma asked Akane curiously. "How can Akane be Kikyo if you're Kikyo?" he added to Kagome.

"That's what I was told" Kagome agreed "But Kikyo was running around through most of our adventures."

"From what I learned in Chiyo-sensei's stories, the Kikyo that was running around was an echo, nothing more. When the witch resurrected her, she stole your soul and awakened the past life memories of Kikyo, and that imprint bonded to the vessel to 'bring her to life' in a matter of speaking. But Kikyo had been reborn as you and you took your soul back. All that was left in the vessel were the awakened memories. That's why she needed soul collectors to bring her souls to sustain herself. She was an empty shell, a memory of who you were in another life. " Akane explained. "You were born to different families in very different time periods and had different experiences, and so you were different people…but the same soul lived both lives. She's who you used to be and you are who she became."

"That makes sense." Kagome admitted slowly "Though it's sort of embarrassing in retrospect. I was so jealous of her and her relationship with Inuyasha."

"You and he must be soulmates. He loved you in two lifetimes…and you loved him." Akane said gently.

"Why were you so sure we were reincarnations anyway?" Ranma wondered.

"I heard your voice. You have the same voice as Inuyasha. You kind of look like he used to when he was in human form. His hair was longer, and his eyes were violet not blue, but still… and you. You're a priestess. I knew it as soon as I saw you. You kind of look like Kikyo and you even wear your hair in a similar manner. Her hair was longer and much straighter, and the locks in front she used to wear tucked in to her ponytail, not hanging loose like yours, but it was still similar… and there you were, together, completely focused on each other. I stumbled across Inuyasha and Kikyo like that more times than I really like thinking about." Kagome let out a shaky breath and her face grew bleakly despondent. "I've been in denial, I think. I was still in middle school when everything was happening. I'm now nearly finished high school. I was stressed and distracted through most of my time in the past because I was so worried that I was going to fail all my tests and not be able to get into the high school I wanted. I took my time with them for granted. I managed to keep up with my schoolwork, I got into the high school I wanted and I've done well since I've been there, but it seems kind of empty now, you know? I just wanted it all to be over. I never really thought about what it would mean. I got so used to just hopping back and forth in time whenever I wanted that I didn't let myself think that one day I wouldn't be able to anymore. I'd gotten to the point that I'd half-convinced myself that none of it ever happened; that I was really sick back then and just dreamed it all… but then I saw the two of you and I couldn't pretend anymore and it just came home all over again that I'm never going to see him again. I'm never going to see any of them again."

Akane reached out and took her hands and squeezed them in comfort. "In Chiyo-sensei's stories…you go back one day. You and Inuyasha get married. Your descendants and Miroku and Sango's intermarry and your descendants found the shrine you grew up in."

"Do I ever come back again?" Kagome asked hesitantly.

Akane shook her head slowly. "In the end it's up to you. The path back will open one last time, but that's all."

Kagome's face twisted--half hopeful elation, half profound sorrow. Akane didn't envy her in the least. No matter which time she chose she'd be losing half the people she loved--her family and friends in this time, her friends and the man she loved in the past. Bit by bit the sorrow receded and became resigned acceptance.

"I can see Inuyasha again." she said quietly. A small smile began to break across her face and she squeezed Akane's hands back. "Sorry for being such a bother."

"Not at all. Happy to help, really."

"Yeah, don't worry about it." Ranma added, finishing off the last bits of Akane's ice cream--his was long gone. "All this was obviously weighing on you for a while now."

 

 

"Oh no! I forgot…"

"Kagome-chan?" Kasumi inquired gently, helping the girl to sit up. "I don't know why I told you to call me, Cologne-san… I'm less than useless. I forgot everything. I showed up at the high school in my uniform and thought I was there for an archery meet or something… I forgot everything. I found Akane-chan, Ranma too. I saw them together and I was convinced it was Inuyasha and his old girlfriend reborn together and that I really had lost him forever and I got upset and ran away crying. They followed me and took me for ice cream and tried to cheer me up." she admitted ruefully.

They all heard the sound of footsteps approaching. Ranma came into the dojo and then halted at seeing Kagome, Kasumi and Cologne all there gathered around the comatose patients. As it always did, his gaze went first to Akane, then to his mother, then to the others, looking for any changes. Upon seeing no change, his shoulders slumped just a bit, though he was obviously trying not to show his fear and worry. He let out a nearly soundless sigh and came the rest of the way into the dojo, then finally took note of Kagome. He halted again, a confused look crossing his face.

"Um, hello? Have we met before? It's just, you look sort of familiar…"

"We met a short time ago in the dream world they're all trapped in. I was supposed to tell them they were all trapped in a dream world and try helping them break out of it, but I forgot everything when I woke up there. Thanks for trying to cheer me up. Akane's right though, you really are shameless in girl form. I'm sure free ice cream is nice, but try to have some dignity." she scolded teasingly.

A series of rather complicated expressions crossed Ranma's face.

"That actually happened?" he demanded hoarsely, gaze once more seeking Akane's peacefully sleeping face.

"You didn't realize?" Kagome noted. "You just thought you were dreaming like normal?"

"Just wishful thinking, I figured. No traumas, everyone getting along. That never happens in the real world. I just figured I was dreaming of nice stuff to make up for what's really going on." He gestured to Akane, Ukyo, Nodoka, Mousse and Konatsu all lined up in a row, where they'd been in a coma for three days now. Ranma turned his head slightly, hearing Ryoga coming up behind him.

"Wow. I just had a really weird dream. I showed up at Furinkan and Akane beat me with a hammer and turned me into a pig, then Ukyo took me to class with her. Then we all went outside and Mousse was waiting for me so we could fight over Shampoo…and he _won._ " he added sounding outraged. "I woke up at Ukyo's place and she said Mousse and Shampoo ran off together to go on a date and possibly have a honeymoon."

"They did." Ranma grunted with bitter amusement. "Mousse is staying with me in the dream world, and Shampoo's been sleeping in Akane's room. I went to go to bed and found they'd just moved in to my room together. They kept everyone up half the night." he added dryly.

"Where'd you end up sleeping?" Ryoga asked suspiciously.

"Akane's room." Ranma replied.

"Why didn't you go to your parent's room?" Cologne asked.

"They were busy too." Ranma said with a shudder.

"Oh my" Kasumi said, covering her mouth and trying not to laugh.

"Son in law" Cologne began, but Ranma smirked at her.

"Mousse can't hear ya, old bag. My name is Ranma. Use it."

"That idiot duck boy has never defeated my granddaughter in combat, you have. You will be Shampoo's groom."

"No, I won't. Do you even care how miserable you're making her? Dream world Shampoo is happy. She and Akane are friends. They hang out together, they train together. She treats me like I'm her idiot younger brother sometimes, but we're friends too. All of us are. Ukyo's my sister in the dream world. She's happier too. The whole stupid mess has been resolved in there. In there I never defeated Shampoo, Ryoga did and then he got lost. She got fed up with chasing him long before they crossed paths again. Mousse's been behaving himself, so she was willing to give him a chance. He beat Ryoga, and their date seems to have gone pretty well given how vocal dream-Shampoo was later. " Ranma scoffed. "And you seem to be forgetting something. Akane beat Shampoo right before all this happened. She also beat Ukyo, and Kodachi, and Mousse and Ryoga." he added wryly.

"A sneak attack with a hammer doesn't count." Cologne insisted.

"It counts." Ryoga said sheepishly. "We all saw her coming. We've all gotten used to discounting her as a martial artist. It's our own faults for not taking her seriously. You also seemed to have missed something. You know she attacked everyone with a hammer. What you seem to have not noted was that it was made from her power."

"Reiki. Spiritual power. She can manifest it as a solid object to attack people with. Skilled as we are, neither of us can do that with ki." Ranma reminded her. "She's been training hard with Chiyo-sensei to unlock it and get control of it. She was so mad and so fed up when she went on her rampage she stopped sabotaging herself and holding herself back like she does. It counts. Akane is my fiancée. No one else. When all of you go back to China, you'll be leaving without me… but then, you already knew that."

"Oh? And what makes you so sure of that, son-in…"

"Ranma. I've been paying attention. When you first arrived, yeah, you planned to get me by any means necessary. Now? Now I think you just stick around because you like the chaos, but you need an excuse or they'll make you all go home."

Cologne cackled. "I always knew you were smarter than you look, Ranma. You've made your choice then?"

"I made it a long time ago. You know that." Ranma said plainly.

"Oh my." Kasumi repeated, softer this time. "Usually just getting you to say you don't hate her is like pulling teeth. What changed?"

"Nothing's changed. Akane and I have always had an understanding. It got buried sometimes because of all the chaos, but it was always there. We've mostly been stalling for time and pushing back against all the pressure. We both had stuff to deal with first."

"You're still cursed. I thought you wanted a cure first." Ryoga noted.

Ranma shrugged, peaceful and relaxed, and glanced over at Akane with a fond smile.

"It's fine. I mean, yeah, it's awkward, and it's gotten me in trouble at times, but it's fine. Even if I never find a cure, I'll deal."

Everyone awake in the room, barring Kagome, looked at Ranma in stunned amazement. Even Kagome seemed surprised, but after her experiences with Inuyasha she understood instinctively how big a step this was for him.

"So…what do we do now? I didn't realize I was in the dream world when I was sleeping. I don't remember the past when I'm there. I just remember how things happened in there. You went in knowing and you don't remember nothing either." Ranma noted. "So what do we do?"

"Well…now that you know you've been actually interacting with everyone in the dream, maybe you can tell us something that will help. Do they have any idea what's going on?" Kagome asked.

"They think they woke up back in time in their old bodies. Ukyo got a wishing jewel off a shady guy in a cart while she was lying in the crater Akane put her in. He kept bugging her, so she gave him 50 yen to make him go away. She wished everyone would get their happy ending. Ukyo woke up in the school she was in before she came here. She put her affairs in order and transferred early. She was planning on becoming friends with Akane, and then getting to me first and introducing herself as my fiancée and beating up pops. She figured Akane would stand aside if they were friends and she thought of me as Ukyo's fiancé from the beginning. Akane woke up and remembered and immediately started training hard so she'd be ready for what was coming. She started signing up for martial arts tournaments and challenging dojos. She also got in touch with my mom and found out she remembered too. Mom got to work settling all the outstanding bills and honor debts she knew about. She got Ukyo's dad to sign an adoption agreement to make her my sister. Akane started writing to people to head off trouble she knew was headed our way, and she got her job at the shrine early so she could finish her miko training. I've been training there too. I've got most of my skills in the dream even though I didn't end up facing any of the people I learned those skills to fight. Akane told me about some of them and I managed to recreate them, and I've been doing ki blasts because of my training at the shrine. We've been working on me getting control of the cat fist too, and me and Mousse have been going so they can study the Jusenkyo curses. We sort of started a business by accident when we went to rescue Kuno's ninja guy, Sasuke. Security consultants. We call ourselves the Nerima Wrecking Crew." he added with a laugh. "Mousse and Akane have been taking dancing lessons, and Akane and I entered a martial arts' dance contest and won…uh, Mousse has been working at Ucchan's place so she can stay at school later. Shampoo was working as a waitress at the Chinese place on Main Street while she was waiting for Ryoga to show up. They've both been living here at the Tendo Dojo. Uh…that's everything I can think of."

"A wishing jewel. Geez. Not another one. The last one was enough trouble." Kagome sighed. "Did anyone find it?"

"Not that I know of. I think Nabiki's the one that found her. Depending on what the wishing jewel looked like, she either kept it or sold it." Ranma answered.

"I did what now?" Nabiki asked. She glanced at Kagome curiously when she gasped. "Yes?"

"Uh…sorry. You just look like a demon I fought once."

"So she _is_ a demon. I always wondered." Ranma muttered, which prompted an icy glare from the girl in question.

Kasumi interjected and explained what they knew about the comatose people's situation to head off any arguments.

"She didn't have any jewels. She was just lying unconscious in a crater. I got a couple of guys who owed me money to carry her. Neither of them mentioned any jewels either, and I didn't see anything lying on the ground after they moved her." Nabiki replied.

"Think the shady guy with the cart took it back?" Ryoga suggested.

"A shady guy with a cart?" Nabiki sighed. "Let me make some calls. I'll find out if anyone saw anything."

"I don't understand though… if Ukyo caused this with her wish, why are all of them in a coma? Why them and not the rest of you?" Kasumi fretted.

"I dunno. Magic never made no sense to me." Ranma shrugged.

"There should be something in the dream world that's acting as the anchor. If you can find it and destroy it, it should release them. We need to get a message to them and let them know they need to start searching inside while we're all searching from outside." Kagome decided.

 

 

"Hey, Akane. You ready to go?"

"Not just yet." Ranma came into the storeroom and looked around. Akane was seated in the back, surrounded by old scrolls.

"What are you doing?"

"I was re-reading the stuff about Kagome and Inuyasha. There's something wrong. She's younger than us. She shouldn't be in high school at the same time as us. She would be in high school in the time we came from, but not now. There's other stuff too. Do you remember when we were all in the dojo and Ukyo had a dream that Ryoga was telling her to wake up and she was confused? I didn't mention it at the time, but I had a similar dream about you. You promised to take me out dancing every night if I would just wake up. I was confused when I woke up because it was 2 am and Shampoo was asleep on the floor and you were nowhere to be seen. I just dismissed it at the time but…"

"Agh!"

"Ranma?"

"Shit. My head hurts..."

"What? Are you alright?"

"Kagome. I remember now…sort of. It's fuzzy…. I met her in the real world. She's the one who told me we'd met in the dream world you were all trapped in. She went in to the dream to try to contact all of you and she couldn't remember when she got here. I thought I was just having happy dreams, you know, to forget that you're all in a coma. I was supposed to try and tell you but I couldn't remember anything until you said that… damn. My head really hurts."

"Just relax. Don't try to force it. Stay with me." Akane ordered, gripping his wrists. She focused a moment, and made herself remember that she'd already put all the scrolls away and locked up for the night. When she glanced back the scrolls were put away.

"Close your eyes." she ordered, doing the same. "We're at home in the dojo. I packed everything away and locked up and we went home."

"No we…"

"We're home in the dojo." she insisted.

"Ah… _right_. We walked home and we're in the dojo." Ranma agreed, catching on.

They opened their eyes and found the familiar wooden floor and walls of the dojo around them.

"We're in a dream world." Akane repeated. "The good news is that, now that we know this, we seem to have some control of it…"

"That should make things easier. So, should we gather everyone up and have a meeting?"

He looked at Akane suspiciously when her cheeks pinked a bit and she bit her lip.

"We can't at the moment. Everyone's out. Kasumi is on a date with Doctor Tofu. Our parents all decided to go see a show and get drinks afterward…Nabiki is off making money and putting people into debt…Mousse and Shampoo are on a date and won't be back till late and Ukyo and Konatsu have a full house at her restaurant. We'll have to do it later." she said firmly while she peeked at him from under her eyelashes .

"Akane?"

"We're in a dream world." she repeated.

"Yeah. You, Ukyo, mom, Konatsu and Mousse are all in a coma." Ranma agreed.

"You're my Ranma from before. We didn't travel back into the past, or to an alternate universe."

"Right. The rest of us just can't remember nothing when we're here." he agreed again.

"Um…what are you doing?" he then asked nervously when she wound her arms around his neck.

"I'm seizing the moment. Again and again and again whenever we had a moment it got ruined, whether by crazy foreign princes, or random monster people, or fiancées, or our families…or by us. As soon as we call everyone for a meeting, we'll be running around, looking for something to fight…and sooner or later we'll succeed and then we'll be back in the real world, where nothing has actually changed, unlike in here. So, for once, I'm going to make sure we have our moment before the real world comes crashing in on us again." Akane explained, her voice quiet. "I love you, Ranma. Do you love me?" she whispered.

Just like that the fear and the nervousness vanished, and he was able to answer.

"With every part of me. Always."

Akane's breath hitched and her eyes grew shiny with the start of tears.

"Sorry…It's just… I really needed to hear that…. for a long time now."

"Honestly…so did I." Ranma admitted quietly.

 

 

"Welcome to Ucc…han's!" Ukyo's voice trailed off with shock.

"Ranma? Akane? What's…How?"

"We'll explain what we know when everyone's here. For now, we didn't travel to the past." Akane answered.

She looked again twenty again and her hair was short once more, like it had been before all this happened. Ranma had shot up a good foot or so, his shoulders had broadened, his muscles were more defined. Ranma at sixteen had been a certified cutie. At twenty he was a statue of a Greek god made flesh. It was a bit harder to hold on to her resolve to let him go when he was standing in front of her looking like that--especially since at the moment she was still a silly sixteen year old girl.

"Ranma? Akane?" Ryoga said hesitantly, before wincing and grabbing at his head. "Ah! Damn… How'd you manage to remember? I forgot as soon as I woke up here!" Ryoga grumbled.

"Relax. I forgot too. Akane figured it out. I remembered when she told me." Ranma told him.

Ryoga began undergoing his own metamorphosis. He too shot up a foot or so, his chest and shoulders broadened. The bell rang on the door and Mousse and Shampoo trooped in. Mousse looked at all of them in shock. Shampoo winced and clutched at her head. When she straightened, she looked her correct age again. A gasp behind them alerted them to Konatsu's presence. In moments everyone looked their correct ages.

"We're not in the past, are we?" Mousse sighed.

"No. You, Ukyo, Saotome-san, Konatsu and Akane-san are all in a coma." Ryoga agreed. "None of us could remember when we were here. Until Kagome-san came here to try to talk to someone, we didn't even realize we weren't just dreaming."

"I went and checked the records at the shrine after talking to Kagome-chan. Something was nagging at me but I couldn't figure out what it was. She shouldn't be in high school if we're in the past. I woke up here one night because I heard Ranma telling me to wake up. Ukyo heard Ryoga once. Putting the three things together, I realized things weren't as they seemed." Akane explained.

"So what do we do now?" Ukyo wondered.

"Kagome-san seems to think there's something in here acting as an anchor. If we can find it and destroy it, it will hopefully let all of you wake up." Ryoga explained.

"Nabiki is making calls and trying to find out if anyone saw anything or knows anything about the shady guy with the cart." Ranma added.

"We don't have any leads at all as to who is behind this?" Mousse wondered.

"Not so far." Ranma agreed. "Do any of you remember anything that might help? Anything at all? We're going under the assumption that it's the wishing jewel responsible, but we could be wrong. Did anything happen to the rest of you? Do you remember anything weird at all?"

"The last thing I remember is hammer to face." Shampoo grumbled, crossing her arms.

"Same here." Mousse agreed wryly.

Akane crossed her arms and looked unrepentant. Ranma smirked just a bit, and looked strangely proud.

"I don't remember anything. I went home after my rampage and went into the dojo. That's the last thing I remember." Akane agreed. "No Chinese princes have shown up? Happosai hasn't been acting shifty and grinning a lot? It's probably not Cologne, considering…" she glanced at Mousse and Shampoo and smirked "Who else do we know who does weird magic?"

"Kuno has a few times. He had that sword that time…" Ranma suggested.

"Where's Gosunkugi?" Akane suddenly asked. "Has anyone seen him?"

"Who's that?" Shampoo wondered.

"He's a creepy, skeletally thin guy with dark circles around his eyes. He's always wandering around with candles on his head, trying to do voodoo, coming up with stupid schemes. He's obsessed with Akane and wants to kill me. The usual stuff." Ranma sighed.

"I haven't seen him once. Everyone else we know has been making appearances. All our classmates, people in town, the folks at the shrine… but not him. Hopefully he got over his weird obsession and moved on and is just off living his life somewhere… But if he isn't… he might be a good place to start." Akane said.

"We should probably split up and work from both ends. Us inside, the rest of you outside. It only makes sense." Mousse suggested.

"Is a good idea." Shampoo agreed quietly.

"I can't just run off now…what about my customers?" Ukyo demanded.

"It's closing time." Akane said, pointing at the clock.

"But we just… Dream world, right. Last call, everyone!"

"The rest of us should probably try to wake up so we can get started. You've already been out for three days." Ranma said quietly. "We need to figure this out and finish it."

"If we all work together we can't lose." Akane said firmly. "We managed worse situations when we were all at each other's throats."

"While this is true, usually by this point in things we had some idea of who the bad guy was and what they wanted." Mousse agreed.

"So then we need to find out is all." Shampoo nodded, cracking her knuckles. "We find and we smash. No more problem."


	11. The Search

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As everyone clues in to what's really going on, a search begins to find the culprit behind everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, sorry! It's been a while since the last update, I know. I have the remaining chapters already written. Hopefully I can get what's left up in a timely manner.

"Oh…hello. Can we help you?" The pale and rather worn out looking couple asked.

"We're looking for your son. Is he in?" Ranma asked.

"Hikaru? No. He moved out."Gosunkugi's mother replied.

"He did?"Ranma said in surprise.  He had that guy pegged as an eternal basement dweller.

"Yes. He decided to travel some and find himself." the father nodded.

"He did huh? Did he say what sort of places he was going?"

"Shrines, mostly. We think he must be considering being a priest or something. He's been visiting a lot of shrines, reading old scrolls, that sort of thing." the mother answered with the desperate air of someone who hopes their child is off to be a productive and respectable member of society but fears it's actually a pipe dream.

"You know anything else? You know where he is now?"Shampoo demanded.

"No…but he did mention a Kuno-sempai before he left. Maybe he knows something?"the dad answered this time.  

"Kuno? Yeah, thanks. Sorry to bother you."Ranma sighed.

Ranma and Shampoo left the premises when Gosunkugi's parents shut the door.

"Creepy boy is with stupid stick boy? They working together?" Shampoo mused.

"I guess we'll find out. Let's find monkey guy and ask. I'd like to avoid girl Kuno if we can." Ranma scoffed.

"Stupid ribbon girl too-too annoying." Shampoo agreed.

 

"Master Kuno? He's in the hospital." Sasuke reported. "I realize Miss Akane had plenty of reason to lash out at him…but she went too far."

"He's in a coma?" Ranma ventured.

"She broke every bone in his body! He's in a full-body cast!" Sasuke said indignantly.

"She did?"

"He is?"Ranma and Shampoo chorused in surprise.

"Is strange. Stupid stick boy should be stronger than that."Shampoo stated.

"Yeah, it is strange. She left everyone in a crater, but she didn't break everyone's bones." Ranma agreed, disturbed. "Hey, did Kuno meet with a guy named Gosunkugi?"

"Creepy fellow? Skinny? Dark circles around his eyes?"Sasuke asked.

"Yeah."

"Yes, he met with such a gentleman. I had to go do the shopping, so I'm not sure what they spoke about. When I returned later I found master Kuno in a crater and took him to the hospital. I heard about Miss Akane's rampage afterwards."

"Maybe we go talk to stick boy, find out what creep boy wanted?" Shampoo decided.

"He's in a full body cast. He can't speak!"

"He can blink." Ranma said without mercy.  "Look, Akane, my mom, Ukyo, Mousse and Konatsu are in a coma, and they have been for three days now. We think that Gosunkugi guy had something to do with it, and if he came to talk to Kuno right before it happened he probably knows something, or helped him in whatever it was. We need to find out so we can break the spell."

"I don't know how much help he'll be, but very well. He's at Nerima General Hospital."

"Alright. I'll go with you. Shampoo, why don't you let everyone know what we've found out so far." Ranma nodded.

"I will. Hopefully stick boy know something." Shampoo nodded.

 

 

"What are we even looking for? We've been all over town." Ukyo sighed.

"Looking for something out of place, or weird, or anything that looks like an anchor for a dream world." Akane shrugged. "You know as much as I do."

"Let's get up high. Maybe we'll see something with a different perspective." Konatsu suggested.

"Mousse is already flying around. I'm not sure how much help that'll be." Ukyo sighed.

"Can't hurt." Akane reminded her.

Excited quacking from above sounded out, and Mousse landed among them a moment later. Konatsu dumped some hot water on him and held up a cloth she pulled from somewhere to allow him to dress in privacy.

"I found something. A mansion that seems to be flickering slightly, like it isn't quite sure what it should look like. It was the only thing I saw that seemed strange." Mousse explained.

"It's better than anything the rest of us found. Let's go." Ukyo nodded, cracking her knuckles.

The four of them set off quickly across the rooftops and came at last to a large house.

"I know this place. That ditz Azusa lives here." Akane said in surprise.

"Azusa?" Mousse asked.

"She's part of the Golden Pair. They're champion figure skaters.  She stole P-chan. Ranma and I had to skate a match against them to get him back. She's annoying and kind of stupid, and a kleptomaniac…but this whole thing doesn't seem to be her style. Besides, that whole thing was years ago. She has the attention span of a gnat. I can't see her plotting revenge for years."

"Well, something is obviously going on there." Ukyo gestured.

"Get down. Someone's coming out." Konatsu said quietly.

The four of them ducked down behind the ridge of the roof they were on.

"A baboon?" Ukyo said in surprise.

"Someone wearing a baboon skin." Mousse disagreed.

"Should we follow him?" Akane wondered.

"Yeah. Baboon guy is our only lead right now." Konatsu nodded. "Everyone hide your presence. Given how swiftly he's traveling, he's obviously a martial artist."

"He's gone. Everyone split up. Find him!" Mousse urged.

 

 

"Did the stick boy know anything?" Shampoo asked when Ranma returned to the dojo.

"It wasn't Kuno in the hospital. It was Gosunkugi." Ranma shook his head. "Monkey ninja guy said he took Kuno to the hospital when he found him in a crater. The folks at the hospital said they realized his skin was weird when they were trying to treat him. He was wearing a Kuno suit. They weren't sure what to make of it when they tore off his skin and found a skinny, weird guy underneath. They didn't have the suit anymore. They said it started rotting and smelled terrible. They had to call in a special crew to clean up and disinfect the area. They said they've never seen anything like it. I never heard of such a thing."

"I have. It's an old demon trick." Kagome disagreed.

"Are you telling us that little creep called up a demon and lost control of it?" Ryoga sighed. "Great."

"What happened to Kuno-baby then? Did the demon kill him?" Nabiki asked.

"Maybe. He might be possessed." Ranma shrugged. "Until we either find the one guy, or talk to the other we have no way of knowing. Did anyone find out anything from the shrines?" Ranma wondered.

"Cologne, Kasumi, and our dads have been covering that angle. I've had my people out trying to find out about the cart guy. Unfortunately, everyone in the area seems to have fled for their lives when they saw my little sister descending from the heavens like the wrath of god with a hammer in hand. No one saw anything. My people are still out asking around, so someone might still find something, but I wouldn't count on it. Happosai is out looking around too. He hasn't had a good night's sleep for three days. He keeps dreaming he's still trapped in the cave where our dads left him. He's pretty pissed. I'm willing to lay odds on him finding something." Nabiki answered with a shrug.

Ranma nodded distractedly and headed out to the dojo proper. Shampoo watched him go, then rose and followed after him. She halted in the doorway and just watched for a moment. She had invested years of her life to winning Ranma. She could admit that it still burned just a bit to have never succeeded. Her pride hurt the most. She'd thrown herself at him, fed him, flattered him, tried being sweet, stern, cute… No matter what she'd done, he had never looked at her the way he looked at Akane. She let her gaze fall from Ranma's bent head to the girl whose hand he held so tenderly.

Her feelings towards Akane were…confused. For so long now she was the obstacle, the husband-stealer… Over the past three days she had lived what seemed like months with an Akane who had never been an obstacle, just her warrior sister, her funny friend. It was hard to reconcile the two sides of her feelings towards the girl. She let her glance slide over the rest of them before finally letting her gaze rest on Mousse.

She hadn't been here to see him since he'd been dropped off with the others the first night. Without thinking about it, she found her feet taking her to his side. She gazed down at his face impassively, rubbing her arms. It was wrong to see him so still; he'd been a restless sleeper since they were children. Even in the dream world, he'd woken her during the night because he was twitching. When she'd woken for real she had rolled over, expecting for a moment to see him there, only to remember all over again that he was in a coma and none of them knew how or why or how to fix it. She glanced back at Ranma. He had laid down at Akane's side and seemed to be trying to fall asleep. He was still holding her hand.

Knowing she was unobserved, Shampoo reached out tentatively and laid her hand on Mousse's, frowning at how cool it felt to the touch. She could feel her eyes burning and blinked them fiercely. She was a warrior. She would not cry.

"Stupid, stupid Mousse." she whispered.

 

"What are ya looking at?"

Akane let out a small squeak as she jumped and spun in place, swatting Ranma on the chest as she did so.

"Don't do that!"

"Sorry." Ranma laughed, pulling her close and wrapping his arms around her. Akane sighed and melted against him, wrapping her arms around him in turn.

"So what were you looking at?"

"Mousse found something weird earlier…" she explained.

"A guy in a baboon suit? Weird."

"It was more like a baboon cloak, with the head as a mask, but still. Did you find anything?"

He explained his own findings, squeezing Akane when she looked stricken.

"I beat up Gosunkugi not Kuno and he's in the hospital in a full-body cast? Oh my god!"

"Not your fault. He was wearing a Kuno suit at the time, and actual Kuno would have been fine, just like everyone else."

"If he's in the hospital it can't have been him that did this."

"We don't know that yet. We still don't know what he and Kuno were up to."

"It was Azusa Shiratori's house that was strange, not Kuno's… though it still seems odd for it to be her…and we still don't know where the baboon guy fits in. It wasn't her. We saw her and Mikado Sanzenin coming out of the ice skating rink while we were chasing him."

"It's still something. Maybe everyone will know more when I go back."

"I hope so. Baboon guy got away from us somehow. We don't know where he was going or who he is or what he's doing. I suppose we can go destroy Azusa's dream world house. I don't know if it'll do any good, but it'll make me feel better. I hate feeling helpless."  Akane grumbled.

"I know the feeling. I'm in the dojo right now, laying between your and my mother's comatose bodies." Ranma said quietly, his arms tightening. "When I'm here, it seems far away, but the moment I wake up it all comes crashing down on me again."

Akane hugged him back a bit harder. "I'm right here. We'll figure this out."

 

 

"Geez. Come up for air." Ukyo said sourly.

"I didn't think Saotome had it in him." Mousse admitted.

"Worst wish ever." Ukyo sighed, before sliding down past the peak of the roof and laying on her back so she didn't have to watch Ranma and Akane kissing any longer.

"Are you alright, Ukyo-san?" Konatsu asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Ukyo said quietly. "He loves her, doesn't he?"

"It looks that way." Mousse agreed, equally quiet. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's not your fault"." Ukyo sighed.  "So…you and Shampoo have your happy ending, Ranma and Akane certainly seem happy, given that they're currently eating each other's faces like a couple of starving wildebeest…. Where's ours, huh?"

Ukyo suddenly looked horrified. "Good lord…I wished for everyone to get a happy ending. We'd better not be trapped here because that idiot Kuno can't accept reality! His happy ending is Akane AND Ranma as his mindless love slaves. It will never happen, which means we might be stuck here forever!"

"We'll find a way to break the spell." Konatsu assured her. "Even if we have to kill Kuno-san to make it happen."

"W-what?! We can't kill him!"

"We can if it's the only way to get out." Mousse disagreed. Konatsu just nodded.

"Ranma seems to have disappeared." Konatsu spoke up a moment later.

The three of them came out of hiding and hopped to the rooftop where Akane stood, arms wrapped around herself like she was cold. She shook off her melancholy quickly and was all business once more.

"Ranma dropped in to report…" She quickly explained what she'd learned, and what all they were still waiting to hear. "I told him we were going to go destroy Azusa's house."

"What good would that do?"  Mousse wondered.

"Kagome said there was an anchor, right? The house was flickering slightly. For all we know it could be the anchor. I figured it was worth trying if nothing else. It's a dream world, so it isn't like we have to worry about the police looking for us. Right now we're all just running in circles, trying to figure things out. This could be the answer…and even if it's not, well, I don't know about all of you, but a bit of violent destruction would certainly make me feel better." Akane said fiercely.

The other three traded a glance and nodded.

"Violent destruction it is." Konatsu said cheerfully.

"Wish I'd brought my bombs along." Ukyo sighed.

"You mean those? Silly you, forgetting you packed them." Akane pointed behind her.

"What are…"

"Dream world, remember?" Mousse reminded her.

"Right. Silly me." Ukyo huffed.

Konatsu reached into her pockets and smiled when he pulled out several bombs as well. "Tee hee. This is going to be _fun!_ "

 

 

"So? Anything?" Ranma asked curiously.

"I met Akane-chan's Chiyo-sensei. Hikaru Gosunkugi did visit. She remembered him. She said he was interested in the old stories she'd collected. She didn't know what he was looking for though." Kasumi replied.

"He stopped by the shrine I visited as well. He read some of the old scrolls they had stored there. Of more interest is that several pots with captive oni and minor demons were stolen several days after his visit." Cologne spoke up.

"Several of such things went missing from the shrine I visited as well." Soun spoke up. "Also a few days after his visit."

"Same here." Genma agreed.

"I called my grandpa. He went to our shrine too. He said he asked a lot of questions about the Bone Eater's well and the God-tree." Kagome spoke up. "He didn't mention anything going missing. I'll have to ask him about that when I talk to him again."

"Did Akane and them have anything to add?" Nabiki wondered.

"Yeah. Mousse was flying around and noticed a house that was flickering. Akane said it was Azusa Shiratori's house. They went to check it out and saw a weird guy dressed like a baboon or something coming out of the house." Ranma replied.

Kagome tensed and turned to look at him. "What, like a costume?"

"Akane said it was more like a cloak with the baboon's head like worn like a mask."

"It can't be…" Kagome whispered in horror. "He's gone!"

"Who? What's going on?" Ryoga wondered.

"Naraku. He used to creep around dressed like that." Kagome replied.

"That was the demon you and your friends fought in the past?" Ranma clarified.

"Yes! We killed him! He's gone! He's supposed to be gone!"

"I'm not familiar with your old enemy. Tell us everything you know about him. Perhaps we can ascertain his next move, or figure out what he wants." Genma ordered.

Kagome gripped her skirt, nerves strung tight. "He started out as a thief named Onigumo. He was badly burned, nearly dead when Kikyo found him in a cave…" She spoke for some time, detailing his many schemes and misdirection, and how close she and her friends came to dying time and again because of them. "In the end, all that was left of him was a creepy head on a spider web. He was trapped in the jewel as were Inuyasha and I. I made the correct wish and it disappeared. Inuyasha and I were thrown out, but he was killed, I know he was! He was all demon by that point. He would have been purified along with all the other demons trapped in there."

"Perhaps he was and was reborn." Cologne suggested.

"If he was and he remembers… all the missing trapped demons. He must be absorbing them for their power. That's what he did the first time. He invited hundreds of demons to devour his soul for the power to punish Kikyo for not loving him back." Kagome said with horror.

"It's Kuno. That's who we're looking for." Ranma said with certainty.

"How could that be though? He's been running around in the dream world." Nabiki objected.

"You heard what she said. He used to break pieces of him off all the time. If Kuno is this Naraku reborn, he just shunted off the Kuno parts and trapped them in the dream world with the others. That's why he seems more delusional and obsessive than usual. He's trapped and doesn't remember." Ranma realized.

"That's kind of a big jump, don't you think?"  Nabiki objected.

"If that's not the case, why the Kuno suit? I think he makes a good point." Genma spoke up.

"Where does Azusa come in to things though? I don't think Kuno even knows the Golden Pair." Ranma wondered.

"He's running around in a furry suit. Maybe she kidnapped him like she did P-chan and he decided to hide out in her house?" Ryoga offered.

"Kidnapped him? What sort of girl is she?" Kagome asked, sounding horrified.

"She's a delusional kleptomaniac that steals anything cute she sees, gives it a French name and sets it up in her house. She stole me from Akane once when I was pretending to be her pet pig." Ryoga said with some embarrassment.

"You were pretending to be her pet pig?" Kagome demanded.

"It's okay. She knows now. She beat him with a reiki hammer and left him in a crater." Ranma said cheerfully.

" _Good._ " Kagome said fiercely. "If she hadn't, I'd have gotten her a subduing rosary. It's perfect for misbehaving pets."

Ryoga shivered. He wasn't sure what a subduing rosary was, but he had a feeling he'd escaped a terrible fate.

 

 

"Well, the good news is that was FUN." Ukyo said cheerfully as the four of them stared down at the burning crater that had once been Azusa's house.

"The bad news is that it doesn't seem to be the anchor for the dream world." Mousse concurred.

"So what do we do now?" Konatsu wondered. "This place was the only weird one we found."

"We could release Happosai from his cave. From what Ranma told me last time, he's not slept well since we all arrived because he keeps dreaming of being trapped. He's running around in the real world looking for the culprit. It might be helpful to have him searching through here too." Akane suggested.

"Too risky. It's a dream world. You know what Happosai is like. He'll dream all the women are walking around just in their underwear and he's out for the count."

"True. In that case, I'm stumped. We don't know who this guy is or what he wants."  Akane sighed.

"That Kagome you mentioned" Ukyo began "Who is she exactly and how did she get involved?"

Akane quickly explained what she knew of her history. "According to Cologne she met her when she was young. She's a time traveler, so for her it hasn't happened yet. All she knows is what Cologne told her, and all Cologne knows is what Kagome told her."

"Well, let us consider this. She knew little of the situation, and so attempted to contact us in the dream world." Mousse began.

"But it didn't work, so that's probably not why she was involved." Ukyo agreed.

"To be fair her appearance and the mismatch in time periods gave me the final clue I needed to figure it out." Akane objected.

"Yeah, but it still seems weird she'd tell her years and years ago that she needed to be involved if that's all it was." Ukyo disagreed.

"Perhaps she was just trying to preserve the timeline? It already happened from her perspective, and so needed to happen?" Konatsu offered.

"That could be correct, but I feel there is likely more to it." Mousse mused thoughtfully. "You said she mistook you and Saotome for the reincarnation of the priestess and her old boyfriend, correct?"

"Well that was obviously a mistake. She's the reincarnation of the priestess. That's how she got involved in the whole time-travel thing to begin with. She was just confused because a memory imprint of her past life was running around in a manufactured body through a good portion of her adventure and she started thinking of her as a separate person, not her own past life." Akane agreed.

"If she's eventually going to return to the past and stay there, and have kids and stuff in the past, how do you know you aren't actually another reincarnation?" Ukyo wondered.

"She was still born in this time and we're both running around more or less at the same time. I don't see how that would even work." Akane disagreed.

"Time travel makes my head hurt. Where were you going with this?" Mousse interjected.

"Well, say they are actually the reincarnations. It might give us some clue as to who's behind it, right? The demon guy, what did he want?"

"Well…Kikyo, mostly. He was obsessed with her. When he was still the thief Onigumo, he got badly hurt. Kikyo found him in a cave waiting to die and she took care of him. She'd come out every day, tend his wounds. He decided he was in love with her, but she was already in love with Inuyasha. He hated Inuyasha both for being a half-demon and for having the woman he wanted, and he hated Kikyo for not loving him back, so he let hundreds of demons feed on him so he'd have the power to destroy them both and take the jewel for himself." Akane said with a shrug.

"Maybe that's it then. Maybe he was reborn too, and he's making another try at revenge? What if he thinks you two are reincarnations as well?" Ukyo decided.

"That still doesn't really explain anything. You ended up with the wishing jewel, and half the people we know ended up trapped, even though you wished for us all to get happy endings." Akane objected.

"The jewel had power because of the priestess and the demons trapped within it, correct?" Mousse interjected. "Kagome-san was the reincarnation of Kikyo… but her enemy wasn't interested in her, he wanted the original, correct?"

"Pretty much. I got the impression he was somewhat focused on Kagome, but yeah, it was Kikyo he wanted."

"We are not demons, but we are skilled martial artists, and you are a priestess. There aren't exactly hundreds of demons simply roaming across the countryside like there once were, maybe he had to find substitutes?" Mousse mused.

"You think he trapped us to empower another jewel enough to…what? Go back in time?"Ukyo asked.

"From both his and Kagome's perspective, all those events already happened. He was vanquished, and never got the woman he wanted. Perhaps he hopes to travel back before events took place and rewrite the past? He knows know how to defeat the jewel, he knows that his ruse in making the lovers think the other betrayed them works in the short term, but not forever, and while he gets his revenge, the result is simply to put her forever out of his reach, and still in love with his enemy. Worse, she's reborn and knowing neither of them, chooses his enemy a second time and works to defeat him." Mousse nodded.

"And if he, like Kagome, thinks they're reincarnations, it looks like fate spit them out a third time, but this time without him around to ruin things for them." Konatsu added.

"Let's say this is right… if he's trying to travel back in time, he needs the Bone Eater's Well and the God Tree at the Higurashi shrine." Akane interjected.

"Let's check it out then. Can't hurt, right?" Ukyo decided.

"Let's go."

 

They set off across the rooftops once more. As they were running, Konatsu frowned.

"You think we might be trapped to help power the wishing jewel, right?" he asked Mousse. "There are a lot of strong martial artists out there that would probably be considered demons back in the time Kagome-san and Naraku are from."

"The phoenix mountain people" Akane agreed.

"The Musk Dynasty. Prince Kiran and the Seven Lucky Gods. My own tribe even, living in the highly magical area that they do." Mousse agreed.

"Happosai." Ukyo added. "And he's running around in the real world looking for him."

"Kiran and his people at least we've seen in here. We need to warn them and spread the word. Everyone concentrate. Their ship is travelling nearby enough for them to spot us and stop by to say hello." Akane ordered.

"There!" Konatsu pointed at the dark dot in the sky that was quickly resolving into the Seven Lucky Gods flying ship.

"Hello again, friends. Fancy meeting you here!" Monlon waved.

 

The Lucky Gods and Lychee joined them on the rooftop for a picnic of rice and assorted pickles.

"Mm. These are really good." Konatsu complimented them.

"Our thanks. These are the pickles my bride and I made from the recipe on the scroll we reunited." Kiran nodded regally.

Once everyone had eaten, they took turns laying out the little bit they knew, what they suspected, and what they feared. When they were finished, Kiran frowned thoughtfully.

"I see. We are familiar with all those groups. We can certainly spread the word and put everyone on guard. We'll make sure someone is sent to guard the Jusenkyo valley as well. If he is in need of demons to power his jewel, he could simply manufacture them at will if he is desperate enough."

"I didn't even think of that. Good point." Akane fretted.

"Fear not, fair Akane, we will lend our assistance gladly to stop this miscreant in his tracks. We wish you luck on your own search."

"Thank you, Prince Kiran, everyone. I feel much better knowing you're all helping out." Akane said gratefully.

The Seven Lucky Gods and Lychee flew off not long after, and the four friends continued on their way. They had only gone a few blocks when they heard screams up ahead and saw people fleeing.

"Sounds like trouble. Let's check it out." Ukyo decided, hefting her battle spatula.


	12. The great escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akane, Mousse, Ukyo and Konatsu search for answers inside while the rest of the gang searches without. Who is the real enemy and what are their plans?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. I really did not mean to let updates languish for so long. I'll try to get the remainder of the story up over the next few days. In the meantime, enjoy.

"Where the heck are all these little buggers coming from?" Ukyo complained as she punted the twelfth imp she'd come across towards Akane with her battle spatula.

The imp shrieked as it approached Akane, whose naginata glowed with spiritual power. She sliced through it and it disappeared as it crumbled away, purified.

"Oni incoming!" Mousse called down from the rooftop.

He tossed a chain-wrapped Oni towards Akane, letting it unfurl as it got closer to her. Another slice and a flash as it was purified and it too vanished.

"That looks like the last of them." Konatsu said as he jumped down to join the two girls. Mousse followed a moment later.

"I guess he managed to find actual demons to help empower the jewel?" Ukyo decided.

"I guess. Maybe that's why he was visiting shrines…or rather, Gosunkugi was. We still don't know where he fits in." Akane sighed.

She glanced up at the sky thoughtfully.

"We're trapped in a dream world… Are our minds or our spirits or something trapped in the jewel, or are we just trapped in our minds? Do you think we can break the jewel if that's the case?"

"I…really have no idea." Mousse admitted. "Weird magic was always more elder Cologne's thing."

"Can't hurt to try, right?"

Akane tucked away her naginata and picked up a bow that had suddenly appeared on the street, leaning against the wall. She concentrated a moment and stared at her closed fist. Her hammer started to materialize, but then she frowned and concentrated harder, and it slowly formed into a softly glowing arrow.

"Wish me luck." Akane told them as she drew, pointing the arrow at a distant fuzzy cloud in the sky.

"Luck." the other three chimed in unison.

The arrow shot off, leaving a streak of light behind it as it traveled. It impacted the cloud and exploded in a burst like a firework.

"Nothing." Akane said in disappointment.

"No, not nothing." Mousse disagreed, staring at the distant cloud. "It impacted on something. I think there may be some merit to this course of action. Try again. See if you can hit the same spot."

"It's not easy making these arrows, you know." Akane complained as she began concentrating again. "I'm already somewhat wiped from purifying all those little demons."

"Can we help?" Konatsu wondered. He reached out and wrapped his hand around the arrow shaft and tried to infuse it with a bit of his ki. The arrow, which had been rather thin and wavery, solidified and slightly changed color. Mousse took his place and added a bit of his ki as well. The arrow began to grow unstable, so Akane hurriedly poured a bit more of her own power into it until it stabilized again. Ukyo took Mousse's place and fed a bit of her own ki, Akane feeding more power to keep it solid. When Ukyo stepped away, the arrow was glowing pink and gold.

"Cross your fingers." Akane sighed as she drew again.

"Focus on it hitting and shattering the jewel." Ukyo told the others.

The arrow blazed forth like a comet this time, leaving a crackling trail behind it. There was a distant 'BOOM' as it impacted and a spiderweb of thin cracks spread from the impact point.

"Not enough. Damn it! I don't think I can manage a third arrow." Akane said, panting.

"Mousse-san, Ukyo-san, bombs please." Konatsu ordered. They turned to look and found him sighting down a massive ballista with a wicked-looking giant metal arrow nocked inside. Mousse and Ukyo each handed him a few bombs, which he duct-taped to the length, alongside his own bombs which he'd already added.

"If you could add a bit of a charge it might help." he told Akane as he got the contraption into position. Akane shrugged and leaked what remained of her power into the arrow. "Stand back, everyone." she told them. She pulled the lever, and the bowstring snapped with an echoing clang, and the arrow shot off with a hiss like an angry snake. The cracks spread, and then spread further as the bombs ignited. The sound of tinkling glass sounded in the distance and they all screamed as they were sucked into a vortex as the world shattered around them.

 

 

"Ugh… did anyone get the number…of that truck?"

"Ow."

"Did it work?"

"It best have. I'd hate to think I feel this badly and it did nothing."

"Oh my. What happened?"

"Mom! Are you alright?" Akane said in worry, as she pulled herself to a sitting position. Nodoka was both older and nowhere near as active. If she felt as bad as she did, she hated to think what Nodoka felt like.

"Akane-chan? What's going on? Why are we in the dojo?"

"We've apparently been in a coma for three days. We were trapped in a wishing jewel by a demon or something. We managed to break free. The others must still be out trying to track down the demon." she explained as she helped her sit up.

"Uh…Akane? What the hell is with your hair?" Ukyo groaned as she sat up as well.

"What is your obsession with my…hair. Um, what?" Akane trailed off as she felt around on her head. "Why is my hair so long? And why do I have Shampoo's hairstyle? Oh god, did I end up in the wrong body?"

"No, Akane-san, it seems to be you, you just have Shampoo-san's hairstyle." Konatsu assured her.

"The tribe has a concoction that will grow one's hair out quickly. She must have used some of it on you for some reason."

"Your hair was long in the dream world. Maybe it's a peace offering or something?" Konatsu suggested.

"Maybe. I'll worry about it later. For the moment I need a bath. I need to brush my teeth. And…I really need to go to the bathroom."

"I'm right there with you, sugar." Ukyo agreed wryly.

"Why don't you three go ahead. Konatsu-san and I can wait a bit."

"Probably a good idea. Come on, mom." Ukyo nodded, offering Nodoka a hand up, as did Akane. Nodoka winced as she got to her feet.

"We must have been laying out here the whole time. It certainly feels that way." Nodoka groaned.

The three of them shuffled off, while Mousse and Konatsu began stretching, trying to work some of the stiffness out of their muscles.

 

 

"Sasuke!" 

"M-mistress Kodachi! I thought you were going to stay at school for the break?"

"You called me and told me my brother was beaten and hospitalized by Akane Tendo. I was hardly going to continue staying at school knowing that. It took me a few days as I had some things to take care of before I could leave, but I'm here now. How fares my brother?"

"As to that…I don't know." Sasuke admitted fearfully. "Ranma Saotome and the Chinese ramen girl came here yesterday to ask some questions about some of master Tatewaki's recent dealings. Apparently Miss Tendo, the okonomiyaki girl, the Chinese ramen boy, the okonomiyaki girl's waitress and Saotome's mother have all been in comas the last few days. They believed master Tatewaki might have something to do with it. I took them to the hospital to question him, but it wasn't him. It was a boy named Gosunkugi who had apparently been wearing a Tatewaki suit. He's not a martial artist, and so when Miss Tendo struck him down, believing him to be master Tatewaki, he ended up in a full body cast. I too had believed him to be master Tatewaki. Given that it was not, I have no idea where he might be or what might have become of him. I've tried finding him, but as of yet I've had no luck. I'm quite worried about him, mistress Kodachi. Saotome and the ramen girl seemed to think there was a demon behind everything!"

"A demon?!" A sudden explosion made Kodachi scream.

Sasuke tackled her and tried to cover as much of her as he could manage as broken glass and timbers rained down around them. When bits of the shattered wall stopped raining down on them both, they sat up with a groan and checked themselves for damage. A pained groan drew both their attention and they exchanged a look before climbing to their feet to go investigate.

"Brother!" Kodachi said in surprise, hurrying to brush off the bits of wall and ceiling covering him. Sasuke saw something and bent down to retrieve it. It was a small, round jewel that had a small section of it shattered, while cracks radiated through the rest.

"A wishing jewel?" Sasuke said in surprise, remembering that Saotome and the ramen girl had mentioned one.

Tatewaki's eyes suddenly snapped open and he hopped to his feet, swaying dangerously. Kodachi hopped to her own feet and moved to steady him.

"Foul sorcerer! I will not allow it!" he bellowed.

"Brother! What is going on? What happened to you?" Kodachi demanded, hurrying after him as he staggered off to fetch the family honor blade.

"Our father has become a sorcerer. He has been meddling with foul magics and has desecrated our mother's grave. I discovered what he'd done quite by accident, and he trapped me in a jewel so I couldn't interfere." He pulled off his uwagi to bare his chest and arms and showed his sister and Sasuke wounds were it looked like a chunk of his flesh had been carved out. "He stole of my flesh to create a guise of myself for him to wear like a suit so that he could meet with one of his informants with none the wiser as to who was truly behind recent events. He reasoned that, even if his victims should manage to escape, they would concentrate on myself as the one behind it, leaving him free to continue his evil plans."

"It may not be completely your father's fault master Tatewaki. Saotome and the others seem to believe a demon was behind everything." Sasuke offered.

"That just means he's been practicing foul magics AND consorting with demons. Far from absolving him, it just makes his list of crimes longer and more unforgivable. I must smite him to clean the stain on our family's honor and retrieve my mother's bones so she may be laid once more to peaceful rest." Kuno said forcefully.

"You're not going anywhere until we dress those wounds, brother. It will do you no good to run off to battle evil and then die stupidly of an infection that could have been easily avoided. Sasuke, call the Tendo dojo and make sure they're informed that my brother was a prisoner and not the one behind everyone's misfortune."

"At once, mistress!" 

"Come, brother. Let us get you cleaned up."

 

 

Kasumi's scream of distress brought the three women running.

"Kasumi-oneechan?!"

"Kasumi-chan?!"

"Kasumi-san!"

"Oh! You're all awake! Thank goodness! I stepped out briefly to go to the market, and I peeked in at everyone when I returned and you were gone! I thought something happened to all of you!"

"We managed to break free from within. We've only been awake for a half hour at most. Mousse and Konatsu are probably still in the bath." Ukyo explained.

Kasumi embraced each of them in relief. Konatsu and Mousse, both still damp from the bath, but dressed, hurried out, tensed and ready for trouble.

"It's okay. She was just surprised when she looked in and saw all of us gone." Akane assured them.

"I'm very pleased to see all of you up and about again. We were all terribly worried." Kasumi said with a smile. "Oh! You must all be hungry! Just give me a moment…" Just like that she bustled off, already focused on whipping up a quick meal for everyone.

"I wonder where everyone is? Still out looking for Kuno do you think?"

"Probably. They don't know we're awake yet."

"We still don't know much more than we did, for all that we managed to escape. It was all speculation."

Kasumi bustled out with a tray of food and began handing it out to everyone.

"That was fast." Akane noted, accepting the cup of tea she was handed gratefully.

"The rice was already made, as were the pork buns, I just heated them up. I've been making lots of food since we had so many guests, but no one's really had much of an appetite…not even Ranma-kun or Genma-san. There's plenty more that just needs to be reheated if you're still hungry."

"We might take you up on that. It feels like I've not eaten in three days… oh wait." Mousse joked.

"I'm glad to see your comas didn't lessen your spirits any."

"Honestly it was like a vacation." Akane said only half-joking. "Do you know where everyone else is?"

"They decided to go to Kagome-chan's shrine to see if that demon fellow shows up there."

"Oh. I guess we should head there as well." Konatsu mused.

"Or we could just stay here. Ranma, Ryoga and Shampoo are there. They're fresh and haven't been in a coma for three days. Demon or not he's still just one guy." Ukyo scoffed. "Not to mention that Cologne is likely there as well, possibly Happosai."

"This is true. They probably don't need us." Konatsu agreed.

Mousse and Akane traded a glance and nodded at one another. Needed or not, neither of them were going to stay behind while the ones they loved were possibly in danger. They both grimly reached for more food to fortify themselves as much as possible. Three days in a coma meant neither was at their best and they knew it, but it didn't change the fact that they were going anyway.

"Geez, you two, hungry much?" Ukyo joked, eyeing how both were shoveling food in their mouths like it was going out of style.

"Yes, and building our strength." Mousse nodded, grabbing another pork bun.

"You're going, aren't you?" Ukyo sighed.

"Of course we are. Ranma would do the same for me if our positions were reversed. How could I do any less? He probably won't need my help…but if he does, even if it's something as small as creating a momentary distraction so he can take back the upper hand, I want to be there to make sure he gets the distraction he needs." Akane agreed. "If you're going to be off fighting, you should take these." Kasumi offered. She had gone and fetched a bag while they were talking and presented it to Mousse.

"Contacts?!" Mousse said in surprise. "Where…how…?!"

"I went to speak with the optometrist, Murasaki-sensei. He remembered dreaming about your visit and even remembered your prescription. He had some of the right one in stock, so I bought some for you. Your new glasses won't be ready for another week, and if you want more contacts you'll have to make arrangements. Those ones are disposable and should last about a month." Kasumi explained.

"Th-thank you, Kasumi-san. I don't know what to say." Mousse said, obviously overwhelmed.

Kasumi just smiled and patted his hand and went to get more food. Mousse left to put the contacts in and returned a few minutes later and just looked around at everyone for several minutes.

"That dream world was quite amazing. I was able to see while there, and now I can again and nothing really looks all that different." he mused.

"I've been trying not to think about that too much. I wasn't aware of being in a dream world at all, and nothing really seems different now. What is reality if you cannot tell it easily from a dream?" Nodoka mused.

"Yeah. That way lies madness. It was easier to tell towards the end once we knew it was a dream. We were able to control it somewhat, and we saw the jewel or whatever our minds were trapped in shatter, which also makes it easier to believe we were in a dream and aren't now." Akane offered. "Not having had that experience, I can imagine this must be very difficult for you."

"I should have known something was wrong. Everything was going so well. Genma was behaving himself." Nodoka said with some sadness. "It was nice while it lasted."

"Maybe it doesn't have to end. We were all happy there. We can make the dream our reality if we work at it." Konatsu spoke up quietly. "I liked having a group of friends to have adventures with. I would not see that end if at all possible."

"I'm still here and I'm still your friend, Konatsu-chan." Akane smiled.

"As am I, Konatsu-san." Mousse nodded.

"And you've still got me, sugar." Ukyo added firmly.

"Oh, my!" Kasumi suddenly exclaimed, staring into the yard. The rest looked outside and saw a monster landing .

"Pantyhose Tarou!" Mousse exclaimed.

 

The monster glared at him and pulled a small thermos from the pantyhose belt he wore around his middle--it was actually a very large thermos, but in the monster's hands it looked miniscule.

"You mean _Kintarou_. He was renamed in honor of his monstrous strength in his cursed form. It's an old tradition, getting a new name on coming of age, or in recognition of some great deed." Akane interjected, glaring at the rest of them meaningfully.

"Oh my!" Kasumi repeated when the monster turned into a rather pretty, somewhat effeminate, very naked, young man.

While the boy hurriedly got into his clothing, Nodoka and Akane exchanged a glance and Nodoka nodded and rose to go to Happosai's room to retrieve his chop, as well as some paper to write a new letter like the one Akane and she had written to the boy in the dreamworld. They both knew all too well the poor boy would end up getting renamed something equally horrible if Happosai were to get wind of what they'd done. Kasumi rose without a word and followed her.

"You called me Kintarou" Pantyhose said as he hopped into the room to join all of them. "I thought I just dreamed that. It seemed like a good omen, so I thought I'd give hunting down the old letch another try."

"You did dream it. Up until about an hour ago we four and Mrs. Saotome were all in comas. Our minds were trapped in a dream world by a demon. We thought we'd ended up in the past until we discovered what was really going on and managed to break out." Akane explained. "Since I thought I was remembering the future, I set out to right some of the wrongs I knew about. We'll give you an official document that you can show the people in your village to make the new name official. Happosai won't ever just give you what you want. He's petty and vindictive…and he really likes the name he gave you and is offended that you don't. Even if you get him to change your name, he won't give you a name you approve of. He'll name you garters, or lingerie or brassiere or panties or…"

"It doesn't count unless he does it." Pantyhose said glumly.

"He did do it." Kasumi informed him as she and Nodoka returned. Nodoka was holding a document with a bemused look on her face, which she handed over to Pantyhose as she sat back down.

"He signed it and put his official seal on it. I had to trick him" Kasumi said with some remorse "but as Akane said, it really is the only way."

"Big sis? You got grandfather to sign it? I just forged his signature since he wasn't in the dream world with us." Akane said with some surprise. "Why did you even…?"

"You took the time to do so while trapped in a dream world. I figured it was important to you." Kasumi offered. "Tea, Kintarou-san?"

"Uh, thanks. That would be lovely." the newly named Kintarou said, obviously in shock. "How'd you get him to sign it?"

"I asked for his autograph. I told him I was going to collect the signatures of great martial artists and had decided to start with him." Kasumi said with a little grin as she poured out tea. "He did sign and put his seal on it, so it's official, even if he didn't intend any such outcome."

"Uh, thanks. If you were just going to trick the old letch, couldn't you have given me the name I wanted?" Kintarou said with a slight pout.

"Awesome is a terrible name." Akane said flatly. "So is Handsome." she added when he seemed ready to object.

"She's right, you know. You'd never get a date with names like that. Girls would just assume it wasn't your real name, and that you were an arrogant loser jackass. Trust us on this." Ukyo agreed, wrinkling her nose.

"Kintarou is a much better name. He was a folk hero, raised by a mountain witch. He befriended animals and was known for his great strength. It's a good, solid name." Akane defended her choice.

"It is a good name. In honor of the change, I also got you a present." Kasumi agreed, handing over a small package.

Kintarou, looking rather abashed, took it and found a golden sash upon opening it.

"I think it will look much better than what you're currently using as a belt." Nodoka nodded.

Kintarou unwound the pair of pantyhose he wore wrapped around his waist and replaced it with his new sash.

"Ah, that looks quite dashing, young man." Nodoka said with approval.

"Congratulations on your new name, Kintarou-san." Mousse nodded.

"Yes, congratulations!" Konatsu echoed, smiling. Kintarou eyed Konatsu speculatively. "Say…"

"I'm physically a boy." Konatsu said cheerfully.

"What is it with all the transvestites in this town?" Kintarou muttered.

"My father made me dress like this!" Ukyo growled.

"My stepmother and step-sisters raised me as a girl, and I still consider myself as such." Konatsu agreed. "I didn't know I was physically male until recently. I just thought I was flat-chested."

"Flat chested?" Kintarou said with an obvious glance at his chest.

"Those are bombs." Konatsu said cheerfully.

"And Ranma isn't a transvestite, he's under a curse that gives him a woman's body sometimes. He's no more a transvestite than you are a yeti-riding-a-bull-carrying-a-crane-and-eel with a side order of octopus!" Akane reminded him. "Ranma has only ever tried to help you, as have the rest of us, more than once. I'll thank you to stop insulting him under my roof. Let me give you a bit of advice, free of charge. You might want to improve your attitude or, new name or not, you're still going to have trouble getting dates."

"Yeah, sugar. Uncool." Ukyo agreed.

"So…what was all that about a demon earlier?" Kintarou asked rather than apologize.

"As best as we've been able to put together it's a demon that was reborn as a human, but he got his memories back or something and he's up to his old tricks." Akane began.

They took turns relating their time in the dream world and what little they knew of Naraku, Kagome and their history together.

"You're all planning to hunt this demon down?" Kintarou asked once they were done telling him what they knew. "I'll help you out. I've never fought a demon before. Could be fun."

"That would probably be a great help. You're very strong." Akane nodded. "We should probably get going…I just need to do something first."

When Akane reappeared, she had removed the hairstyle Shampoo had given her and straightened her hair. It was now in a long ponytail down her back, with the forelocks that hung to either side of her face tied into it so they formed small loops on either side. She was in her miko's outfit.

"Why the change, sugar?"

"I'm hoping it will give us a small psychological advantage when we find the demon. He's obsessed with the priestess Kikyo. I'm hoping it will distract him if he thinks she's out running around. It won't be a big distraction, as I'm obviously not her, but sometimes a small one is all that's needed to make the difference between victory and defeat."

"Spoken like a true student of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts." Nodoka said wryly.

Kintarou slipped the document they'd given him back to Nodoka.

"Could you hold on to that for me? I don't want it getting ruined if we do find that demon guy."

"Certainly, Kintarou-san." Nodoka nodded, folding it carefully and tucking it away in her obi.

"Alright, let's go!"

Nodoka and Kasumi waved them off as they took to the rooftops. The phone rang. Kasumi went to answer it.


End file.
